Extella Grand Order
by Cloud Link Zero
Summary: When the Incineration of Humanity comes to pass due to a causality manipulation that leaves Ritsuka Fujimaru dead just before the Fuyuki Singularity, Zelretch calls upon the Last Master left in the Parallel Dimensions to help him. Welcome to Chaldea, Hakuno Kishinami. Hope you survive the experience!
1. Chapter 1: Fractured Beginnings

Extella/Grand Order

Chapter 1: A Fractured Beginning

His name was Zelretch, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. He was an immortal, a Vampire…one of twenty four known as 'Dead Apostle Ancestors'. Feared by the magical community and unknown to the larger masses. He was also a true 'Wizard', having mastered what was known as the Second True Magic, which he called the 'Kaleidoscope'. With it, he could see and access all sorts of alternate realities. Bend the rules to his whims as he harnesses their power, bring things out or place things in any of them so long as it didn't break one of several major rules.

Despite the grandiose nature of its power and how it operated, the 'Kaleidoscope' was not some sort of omnipotent power. Even it and he had to operate under several unbreakable conditions. One of which was that he could not pull out something vitally fundamental to how that universe operated. For example, he could not pull the Ten Commandments out of its resting place before it was read to the masses at large because it was a necessary object for the entire universe to function. It laid down the groundwork for what would later become the laws of humankind.

As such, it's only after it was 'lost' to the masses that he could take such a relic. Though conversely, he also could not 'change' it and then put it back into the past and swap it out with the past copy. To do so would, just as taking it out early, destabilize the entire foundations of the universe. Which was bad and he didn't need that sort of headache.

Though that did not mean that he couldn't find loopholes. He found a LOT of loopholes in those rules, such as being able to talk to the many versions of himself that lived in different universes and THEY cause mass havoc and rioting in the magical community. One such instance was when he convinced a different version of himself to make a magical, talking stick that would seek out those that would want to be 'magical girls' or at least his nosy little future and present apprentice, Rin Toshaka.

In several universes, she locked the rather genre savvy stick in a chest to rot, though in some she was forced to take it out and participate in a different kind of war. One that did but did not involve heroic spirits and in these rare occasions, without the interference of one Shirou Emiya, who seemed to be present in one way or another to a LOT of different dimensions. It was actually easier to list the ones that the boy DIDN'T exist in over the ones where he did.

Once everything was laid out, however, he could sit in his little hidey hole in the realm between dimensions and watch the chaos unfold. The important word there was 'watch', as the final rule of the Kaleidoscope came into play when he was shifting through the various dimensions to find something that would cure his boredom for a bit.

The Kaleidoscope allowed him to see and do all sorts of different things, but he never put a greater effort into 'looking' at how that dimension operated. To do so was called 'observation' and if he did that, then the Kaleidoscope would immediately make that dimension the 'prime' dimension for all events that would follow afterwards. He made that mistake only once and watch many dimensions that surrounded one universe die a miserable death because he wanted to test the limits of what he could do.

He had been a young, naïve fool back then and he did not make that mistake again. Though at the moment he was bored, so he decided to see what the near future of his universe held. He hoped that the Americans did something funny with that blonde pompous fool of a President.

That was when a problem happened. Something that in his many years of being…unalive, he would say was close to the truth, had not happened before, EVER. He was unable to see into the future of his dimension. He tried to step back one year but got the same result. As did two years and three years. Four years back, in the present day, he managed to temporarily see something, but then a great gout of fire rose up, nearly blinded him and he lost access to that time as well.

This was not natural by any means and for someone like him to come to that conclusion was a worrying prospect. A man with his power, a true Magician shouldn't have to worry about something like this, but worry he did. Looking back internally at the few seconds of the present day he had been able to see, he tried to visualize and compress every single element he could because whatever had happened was the catalyst to this whole disaster.

He had seen a young man, in a white uniform reaching out with his hand towards a pink haired girl whose body was crushed underneath some rubble.

_'Chaldea, A Security Organization tasked with defending timelines from abnormalities.'_ His mind informed him as the energy of that dimension flowed into him to make sense of what he was looking at.

Just as their hands were about to touch, a large chunk of the ceiling from the room they were in landed on the young man, killing him instantly before everything had gone white and the fires rose up.

_'Abnormality, the boy was supposed to live, become the last master of Chaldea and go across time and space, preventing the incineration of humanity and the disintegration of the timeline of the multi-verse at large'_

Zelretch sighed at that information. If he only managed to see the face of the boy in question, he might have been able to pull a parallel version of him to correct things to their original state without altering things too much. Instead he only saw the general outline and nothing else due to all the smoke and fire blinding his sight.

Looking through years past, he was unable to even access Fuyuki during the fifth Holy Grail War, so his plan B was out as well. Normally plan B always worked, which involved throwing a random Shirou Emiya at the distortion. He had no idea how the boy managed to get a Servant's EX rank luck, but he did. It didn't matter how hopeless the situation, it always got resolved in a way that didn't kill everything. Yet even that luck didn't save him from the burning fires that ravaged the timelines apparently.

So he would have to go to plan C. It wasn't the one he wanted to resort to, but it was definitely the infinitely more interesting choice if only because of the unique circumstances behind it. With that in mind, Zelretch stopped looking at the past and instead began looking at the future. As he had expected, most of it was just pitch black nothingness, but he pushed through, until he reached the year 2030 of a certain parallel universe.

There, he picked up a faint image…more of a dying flicker rather, but it was there and that was all he needed.

For in that universe, the Holy Grail War took place not on earth…but rather the Moon. Called SE. RA. PH, short for Serial Phantasm, it was a giant supercomputer that recorded all human history from past to present and compressed it into data. When the Magi community found it, all of their efforts went not towards magic that could be reflected towards the material, but rather towards the soul.

Those with proper 'Spiritron' training could not only hack their way into SE. RA. PH and have the chance at participating in its version of the Holy Grail War, but also hack the reality within it to help themselves or their Servants in battle. It was here where 128 masters all came to test their mettle. Whoever won, would get to shape reality in the Moon Cell however they wished.

It was a rare universe that did not contain Shirou Emiya. Instead, the irregularities and situations that happened revolved around a by all means ordinary teenager named Hakuno Kishinami. He had a somewhat tragic past, but by no means worse than the former. He had been frozen in a cryogenic stasis tube when he found out that he was suffering from a rare neurological disease that was slowly eating away at his memories. With enough time, his body would even forget how to function properly and he would die. The one doctor able to perform the surgery died in a terrorist attack that took down his plane en route to the surgery that would have saved him.

So instead his soul somehow drifted naturally into the Moon Cell, where SE. RA. PH recorded him. With no memories but a rather unusually strong will to live, he found himself forced into the Holy Grail War. In terms of 'shit endured', Hakuno far and above exceeded Shirou there.

Zelretch had seen his soul tortured, fragmented, broken, forced to split his digital mind, soul and body into three pieces, tortured some more and even got killed 600 times by Gilgamesh. Each time he stumbled into his realm on the 'Far Side' of the Moon where all the junk and forbidden data laid, the King of Heroes had laid waiting and despite being touted as nigh-impenetrable, Hakuno somehow always managed to stumble across the King of Heroes hiding place until Gilgamesh found him worthy of his time and attention, which expanded into being his Servant down the line.

Yet even with the absurd amount of punishment he had been put through, Hakuno managed to bounce back even stronger and overcome whatever was in his way.

He was actually rather grateful that his viewings were a lot easier here as the Moon Cell had a very special function to 'see' all alternate realities within its own multi-verse.

Now that he had thought about it some more, the Magician realized that Hakuno was honestly the perfect replacement for the Chaldea master that had died. He was average, yes, but because of his extraordinary endurance to take a beating, he would be more than able to endure and survive whatever was to be thrown at him to save the multi-verse.

Drawing in as much power as he could through the Kaleidoscope, he created an opening into that realm, but frowned when he felt a…he wasn't sure how to really term it, but the closest estimation he could get was a blockage in the usual amount of dimensional energy he could pull forth. As if an artery had been clogged and what he was getting was the little bits of 'blood' that was seeping through. Things were definitely going from bad to worse if even his own magic was beginning to fail him.

_'At least I can't complain about being bored this time around'_ he thought to himself as he entered the portal and closed it behind him.

_Moon Cell_

_New Holy Roman Empire_

Hakuno Kishinami found himself sighing as he collapsed onto the throne set at the center of what had been dubbed the 'New Holy Roman Empire'.

It was actually a title that lived up to its name as it was indeed made up entirely of ancient Roman architecture on the outside of all the buildings. The insides had all the modern conveniences that one could ask for. The people, both created by the Moon Cell and mages seeking refuge from a slowly decaying earth in terms of resource shortages, found themselves milling about and happy.

Yet for Hakuno himself, he couldn't even get the chance to really take a break. It had only been two weeks after the Rouge Servant known as Karl der Große had attempted to assimilate the entirety of the Moon Cell to be twisted into his vision of a perfect empire. Only FOUR weeks after he had dealt with the Sephyr incident, Archemedes betrayal and subsequent reset into being an obedient (insofar as his core coding allows him to) Servant and making sure the Umbral Star didn't decimate both the Earth and the Moon.

Worst of all, his unwanted 'harem' of women were growing on at an accelerated rate. He had enough on his plate as it was trying to please and satisfy his two 'wives' (self-proclaimed) and a third that had recently come to roost. Nero Claudius, Red Saber and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire he was currently resting in was the first and his first Servant in the Moon Cell's Holy Grail War. Tamamo-no-Mae, Blue Caster and ruler of the Japanese themed Millennium Capital. His 'sub-servant' when he had encountered her during the Holy Grail War and hacked the system to make herself his servant after surviving her Noble Phantasm and not hating her for it.

The third was Altera, true name Attila the Hun, Green Saber. Former vessel for Sephyr and herald of the Umbral Star. When he had divided his being into three to escape from her gigantic Sephyr body after failing to even so much as scratch her with the full power of the Holy Grail, she had gotten his empty shell of a body and they somehow connected over their emptiness and his own empathy towards her situation. That body later sacrificed itself to make sure that she would live, no matter what the cost. Hakuno had since re-created a new digital body, but the memories of love and dreams had stayed with him and so did she.

Though now he had to add to his ever growing headache. New to 'the list' as he had so eloquently named it, was Rider Medusa, Ruler Jeanne D'Arc (who attempted to deny that she had feelings for him but kept blustering when pressed), Lancer Scathach, Lancer Elisabeth Bathory, Rider Francis Drake, Saber Artoria and Rider Astolfo. The last one made him visibly shudder because technically Astolfo was a male, but he pulled off being a woman SO well in both personality, looks and clothing choices that nobody could say he wasn't just as worthy.

Those were just the ones in the Moon Cell. There was another, but he didn't like thinking about what had happened to her. The sheer pain and agony his own selfless action had done. He had not seen her since the Holy Grail War ended and he was unsure on if he would ever see her again.

Back on Earth, the magi Rin Toshaka and the homunculus Rani the VIII were waiting for a time where his disease could be could be cured and his actual, physical body could be restored. He wasn't sure what would happen to the 'him' that was living and breathing on the Moon Cell right now, but he was sure there was a backup copy somewhere that would allow him to exist in both places at the same time. The Moon Cell was thorough above all else in making sure the one who manages it had the appropriate means to do so.

Now, after all the reconstruction efforts, he had some time to himself…or so he thought. An alarm rang out in his mind caused by the Regalia, the symbol of the Holy Grail of the Moon Cell. It warned him that there was a time-space anomaly opening right in front of him. Hakuno desperately hoped that it wasn't Gilgamesh. His former Servant was a lot more mellowed out compared to his history that he had read up on due to living in the 'Far Side' of the Moon Cell, but he still caused a lot of headaches by randomly popping in and out of existence and causing general mayhem in search of his 'bride' (self-proclaimed) in Saber Artoria.

A void opened up in front of the teen, who looked at it warily and prepared his command seal to summon any and all of his servants to come to his aid. Though what came out of it was…an old man? In his eyes, this figure looked no different than a formal British gentleman, but his flashing Regalia had told a far more dangerous story.

It identified the man in front of him as Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. A disgustingly powerful vampire who mastered the lost magic of the Kaleidoscope and whose was known for sending people into unwanted situations for his amusement due to his immortality. That made Hakuno tense, especially when the vampire looked at him in a once over sort of glance and gave a wicked grin that promised nothing but suffering in the near future.

"I can see that you already know who I am. Good, that'll save us some much needed time." Zelretch said, before dropping his grin into a far more serious look. One that sent Hakuno's virtual heart into near cardiac arrest because it did not look natural on him.

"Hakuno Kishinami, Last Master of the Moon Cell. I need your help to save humanity in the past, present and future."

With that one line, Hakuno knew that his temporary reprieve of ten minutes was over.

_Twenty Minutes Later_

After giving the watered down version of everything that had been happening and Zelretch's own observations, a very grim picture was appearing in front of Hakuno. The Regalia itself also admitted to feeling a 'shift', an anomaly that was attempting to destroy the entire reality that they were in. Due to already having to deal with Sephyr, however, the Moon Cell had defensive measures in place to just barely keep its existence in check. Though it did not give Hakuno, even with his master key access, any reason as to how that was even possible.

"So…I'm literally the only Master left in time and space across the multi-verse. By luck." He summarized, slapping a hand over his face in despair.

"That's pretty much it. My own magic is more or less beginning to lock itself up as well. There isn't much 'multi-verse' or 'parallel dimensions' left to call upon. So we have to get going now I'm afraid." Zelretch explained though he did not show any sign of being sorry in the slightest.

Despite this not even being Hakuno's problem…it still ended up being his problem. Looking down at the Regalia, he sent the last twenty minutes of his memories to his Servants across the Moon Cell, both far and near. He had to do this. If they wanted any hope of there being a future, then he alone would have to bear the burden once more.

"Let's do this Mr. Schweinorg." He stated wearily, standing up and changing his attire into something more familiar. A black t-shirt with a smiley face on it and his school jeans and sneakers. The Regalia was still firmly set on his finger.

Zelretch let out a boisterous laugh at being referred to so respectfully. "When was the last time someone actually called me that? Please boy…no, Hakuno Kishinami, call me Zelretch like everyone else does." He said, giving the teen an almost grandfatherly warm smile. Considering what was at stake, it might be the last sight either of them could see and it made Hakuno smile back.

Zelretch then called up on the last of the magic he could summon from the Kaleidoscope, forcibly ripping open a tear in front of them before breathing hard, sweat running down his brow as for the first time in centuries, he had to call on his own magic to help assist with this endeavor.

"It is not easy, doing what we're about to do. I'm breaking a lot of rules, but it has to be done. The boy's existence who had been killed will be overwritten by your own. He won't be coming back, sadly. The fires made sure of that. You'll be given a crash course info dump on the world that you'll be in, so expect side effects such as lethargy, tiredness and even passing out. Your digital body is also shifting into a flesh and blood body, so physical pain will probably be felt as well. Your tie to this reality, your…Regalia, will still be on you, but unless someone knows exact dimensional frequencies, its own prana will be masked as you having an unusually high pool of the stuff. As long as it and by extension the Moon Cell can still observe you, you'll be able to return. I'll be there as well to assist since I'll be unable to access the Kaleidoscope until we start fixing this issue."

It was a long-winded explanation, but Hakuno set his face into a firm look of resolution. Taking in a deep breath, he walked at first but then ran headlong into the rift, even as the sounds of his Servants finally reaching the throne room reached his ears and begged him to not go, he did not look back. He knew that if he did, they would stop him. Try to convince him that there had to be another way. Something else that they could do. In this one instance though, there was nothing that a Servant could do. For once, this was something only HE could do.

He couldn't lose his resolve, even as he felt his body beginning to burn with a pain he had not felt since he split himself into three. It was a pain tied to all three aspects of a human being; the body, the mind and the soul. His spiritron circuits heated up and made his skin feel like it was being cooked alive. Code and numbers slowly gave way to flesh, blood and organs. Deep breathing actually produced oxygen, rather than an artificial facsimile.

For the first time in many, many years…Hakuno Kishinami lived and breathed.

Though even while the duo left their universe to go save another, it didn't stop them from being observed by the powers-that-be. One in particular, was smiling from ear to ear.

"_I finally found you, S-E-N-P-A-I! Your adorable Kouhai will come to get you soon! Just you wait!"_

_July 30, 2015_

_Chaldea Security Organization_

_?_

The first thing Hakuno felt was the cold, hard floor underneath him. It was both soothing and uncomfortable at the same time as his internal body temperature was boiling, but not so much now that it was unbearable as it was before. There was also a wetness to his cheek, as if he was crying or if someone had spilled something. Blearily opening his eyes, he almost shut them again due to the bright, piercing light that greeted him. It took a few moments, but blinking away the spots from his eyes he found himself face to face with…white fluff? Looking up slightly, he saw a sort of white, fluffy creature that couldn't have been bigger than the size of his hands placed together licking and pawing at his cheek.

He…really wasn't sure what he could categorize this creature as being. The Regalia had remained silent on that matter as well, providing no answers to his query. There was also the possibility that all of the Moon Cell's processing power was placed on 'observing' him so he wouldn't lose his entire being to the void so it wouldn't be able to answer him anyways. Reaching forward with a hand, he placed a finger on the creature's cheek and gently rubbed it back and forth.

"Fou, Fou! Kyuu!" it cried out in an adorable tone of voice before rubbing back against his finger. Figuring that he had spent enough time on the ground, Hakuno slowly pushed himself up, feeling rather wobbly and having trouble maintaining his balance without placing a hand against a nearby wall for support. The little creature observed him for a while longer, by which then Hakuno could see that it was wearing what appeared to be a tiny coat of blue and white while having rather impressively long ears like a lapine despite a more canine like body.

He did not have time to ponder how a hybrid like that even existed for very long, as the sound of boots against metal hit his ears. Looking around him properly, Hakuno had found that he had landed in the middle of a long corridor of which he couldn't see the entrance or exit from his current position. In a few seconds, the owner of the sound came around the corner and he found himself slightly blushing because what he saw was a vision of beauty. Maybe not an unearthly beauty like the Servants he always saw, but a more modest, human one.

She had short pink hair, long enough however to cover her right eye while a pair of glasses complimented her lavender eyes. She was fairly short, the top of her head going up to his chin. She wore a modest uniform of sorts which consisted of a grey hoodie over a black shirt which itself was over a white collared shirt but a red tie was draped over it, making him wonder if she was that cold in this building which he himself found to be fairly warm all things considered. Completing her uniform was a black skirt, some tights and brown shoes.

The girl looked at him curiously, observing him and making him wonder if she really found him that fascinating before offering a warm smile. "Hello there. Are you the last Master chosen for the Chaldea project?" she asked, her voice soft and kind but also had a firmness behind it.

Hakuno tried to speak but ended up coughing for a moment before he found his voice. "Ah…sorry. Yes, I am. I guess the trip over made me more tired than I thought since I apparently passed out." He attempted to lie and explain his reason for being there.

The girl gave a nod and then looked down at the little furry creature who had taken to nuzzling his leg. "Ah, there you are! I see you've found Fou." She noted. Upon hearing its name the creature yipped or barked, he couldn't tell which, before swiftly climbing its way up to the girls shoulder before laying on it in an almost regal manner. "Fou is our…mascot and pet here in Chaldea. We don't exactly know what it is, we just found him one day. Though normally he doesn't take to strangers so well. For him to like you is already good luck I would think."

Hakuno nodded at the small explanation. "I guess you can call me a Fou Tamer then." He joked, to which Fou once more cried out its namesake before leaping onto his own shoulder. "In all seriousness, I'm Hakuno Kishinami. A pleasure." He said, offering her a handshake with his Regalia clad hand.

The girl giggled slightly before smiling and nodding. "I'm Mash Kyrielight. As I'm younger than most people here and just an assistant, I guess that makes you my Senpai." She stated, causing Hakuno to involuntarily shiver as bad memories slightly clawed its way up to the forefront of his thoughts.

_"Don't worry, I'll always take care of you Senpai!"_

_ "Why, WHY WON'T YOU ACCEPT MY SALVATION?! SENPAI, WHY?!"_

_ "I love you, Kishinami-senpai."_

_ "Good-bye…and thank you for everything."_

Bidding away the bad memories, they shook hands, only for both to jump when a spark came between their hands and even more memories flooded Hakuno's mind. Painful memories, lonely memories, memories of a life that he did not live but it felt as if he did. The Regalia was quick in suppressing them, but he had seen enough that it made him almost fall to his knees again.

"Oh dear. Maybe the simulation was a bit too much for you? I heard for those without proper training, it is quite a harsh drain on the prana." Mash questioned as she helped him steady himself. Fou attempted to help as well by licking his cheek in support.

"M-maybe." Hakuno responded, flustered somewhat at how such a nice girl could have a rather traumatizing past. After taking in a few deep breaths, he began to walk down the long corridor, Mash following closely behind him and Fou firmly planted on his shoulder.

Several minutes of silence ensued before Mash spoke again. "U-um…I just want to say I think you're a very brave person, signing up for this project. I know it might be a bit harsh, but you'll have a lot of companions helping you out as well! We also have the very talented Wizard Marshal himself overseeing this!" she offered to help lift up the tenseness that the repeating décor gave off.

"Oh? You mean Zelretch-san?" he queried before Mash quickly slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him.

"You don't actually say his name out loud. In the time he's been here, anyone that says his name has been plagued by his rather…odd humor. Even the director herself isn't safe because she has to deal with him every day." She explained before letting go of his mouth, realizing what she just did and then going an atomic red from neck to cheeks. "Ano…I-I'm sorry!" she quickly shouted before going into a formal Japanese bow.

"I-it's ok Kyrielight-chan." Hakuno said, bringing his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm actually surprised you know Japanese and some of our customs. You name and Magi in general usually stick to England don't they?" he asked, remembering from his Universe what little Rin Tohsaka had explained about the Magus Association and the Clocktower in general.

"If…if it's alright with you, please call me Mash and I'll call you Senpai." The pinkette offered in return.

"Uh…sure then Mash." He corrected himself.

"Thank you, Senpai. To answer your other question, I'm not really from Europe. Though it looks like time is up." She began to say before noticing they had finally came to a longer, T-sectioned hallway with multiple rooms going all across it.

"Indeed. Mash, where have you been?" A cultured voice called out to them.

From what little shadows were around them, a rather tall man wearing a lot of green came from around the corridor. Hakuno immediately cringed when the Regalia was sending warning blares all around his mind about the man in front of them, but he silenced it lest he give any indication to them of knowing more than he should. The Regalia said that this man, despite an outer human appearance, was not human in the slightest. He was not to be trusted, nor should he be alone with him.

"Hoh? Mash, is this him? The last of the 48 Master candidates?" he asked, giving off a kindly smile despite having what appeared to be a very sharp set of teeth.

Mash gave a nod. "Yes. Um…this is Professor Lev Lainur. He is one of the people who helped to make Chaldea into what it is toady alongside the Director's father and several others. Professor Lev, this is Hakuno Kishinami-senpai, the last of the Master Candidates. He appears to be slightly disoriented due to extensive magic circuit usage during the simulation on the flight here." She explained.

Hakuno was extremely still as he saw 'Professor Lev' observing him. "Do you have any questions, Mr. Kishinami?" he asked politely.

He shook his head. "Honestly, I'm just surprised that I was chosen. Before this, I was just…average." He said in a partial truth but mostly a lie.

Lev seemed to be satisfied with his answer and gave another false smile. "I see. Well then, Mash, please come with me. You're needed for the medical lab to check up on you." He informed the pinkette.

Mash gave a slight nod. "Understood. Senpai, I hope to see you on the first mission. Your room is down the hall to the right, while the meeting that is about to begin for all Master Candidates is to your left. There will be signs pointing to the conference room. Fou, let's go." She told him, giving him a true kind smile as Fou leapt off of his shoulder and back onto her own before Lev took her to head towards the medical wing.

Hakuno felt a massive headache coming on and not just from the stress of dimensional traveling. "Damn it Zelretch." He muttered, wishing the man would have stayed with him rather than apparently going enough into the past to have an effect on him being on staff in this facility. How he managed to do that with 'no more energy' was another mystery to save for later. '_Still, nothing to do but actually attend this meeting. I just hope I can stay coherent enough for it.'_ He thought to himself as followed Mash's instructions.

_Chaldea_

_Conference Room_

_One Hour Later_

Though it had not been much time since he had arrived and found himself having the last seat in the front row, rather than feeling more energized Hakuno found himself getting more and more tired instead. His spiritron circuits had been converted into regular prana circuits and combined with the massive information dumps that the Regalia had pushed onto him regarding Mash, he was on his last legs.

So with a few minutes before the official meeting started, he decided to take a quick power nap. Though that power nap eventually became a rather deep sleep, until it was interrupted by the sound of something slamming onto the desk he was on. Bolting upright, he found himself face to face with a second beautiful girl his age since he had arrived here. Unlike Mash, however, this girl had an aura about her that radiated far more authority and gave her a somewhat regal bearing compared to the pinkette. Long silver hair and golden eyes only proved his thoughts as being right even more. Though at the moment, she had a large scowl on her face and a little ways behind her and to the right, Mash looked at them slightly awkwardly.

"I see our sleeping beauty is awake now. Since you seemed to miss a good portion of this lecture, I will recap for you. My name is Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea. You are one of the few Master Candidates chosen because despite being a civilian you had exceptional magic circuits and prana reserves, even by magi standards. Your goal is to preserve the foundation of humanity against any and all threats. Though since you had the GALL to SLEEP through MY speech, you're benched for the first mission!" she all but howled in his face.

Hakuno leaned his head back as Olga leaned more and more against the desk with a furious look still on her. "I-I'm sorry director, the simulation, it-"he tried to explain using the explanation that Mash had conveniently had given him earlier but was cut off again by Olga.

"I don't care about the simulation. In this place, you follow my orders to the letter! Everyone, even you, is irreplaceable in this facility. I don't care about your birth, your achievements in life or any suck-up excuses like that. All I care about are results and so far you've given me none. Now OUT! Mash, make sure he gets to his room!" she ordered. The pinkette hesitantly nodded and walked over to him, grabbed his hand and gently led him away before Olga began to go back to her speech.

Hakuno sighed the moment the door closed behind them at his major screw-up. Mash also seemed slightly off-kilter at the tongue lashing he had just been given. Before they started to walk away, however, a low chuckle was heard and they both turned their heads to the right, where Zelretch himself was walking down to meet with them.

"I see you've had the delight of meeting with our Director. Quite the spit-fire, isn't she?" he teased as Hakuno only sighed further while Mash snapped a military salute.

"W-wizard Marshal, sir!" she greeted, only for Zelretch to outright laugh in her face, causing her to frown but not stop her greeting.

"At ease Mash, we're all comrades here. Don't stand on pomp and circumstance for me." Zelretch requested, much to her surprise.

"But Sir, you're-"she began to explain before he cut her off.

"I'm just a Magi here, same as everyone else. I'm only here to let Olga Marie know that the Coffins are ready, CHALDEAS is ready to observe, SHIVA is fired up and TRISMEGISTUS is online." Zelretch explained. "Why don't you take our tired master towards his room before joining us, hm?" he also asked politely as a familiar white creature came out from behind his legs.

"Oh. Fou." Hakuno noted and the creature yipped, quickly hopping over to him and climbing up his body before going back to resting on his shoulders like before. Zelretch's smile seemed to grow even wider than before, going almost ear to ear now as if he had seen the world's most amusing comedy that only he knew.

"Senpai, please come this way." Mash politely instructed, leading him down the many different winding hallways and corridors that he had passed through earlier.

"So Mash. I didn't catch anything the Director was saying. Could you bring me up to speed?" Hakuno politely asked as they walked to make their short trip just a bit livelier.

"Of course. She had explained that Chaldea first came to effect around 2004, when the former director, Olga Marie's father, won the Fifth Holy Grail War. It was around that time that he proposed to the clock tower one of the first and only truly successful collaboration project between the Watchtower, the Holy Church and even the mysterious Atlas group located in the Middle East. Even the Wizard Marshal had heard of it and wanted to observe this for himself, offering some of his own funds to help Chaldea through its more costly expenses.

It was only just this year that we managed to get all of the equipment online. In the command center, you'll see a machine in the center of the room. It is meant to continually monitor the earth in both a temporal and spatial axis. If there is anything that should disturb the evolution and survival of the human race in the past, present or future, then it will glow red. The forty-eight including yourself are Masters specifically chosen for their high prana and circuits, regardless of origin or ancestry like the Director had stated earlier."

Mash stopped to take a breath for her lecture and Hakuno spotted a water fountain that they both got a drink to cool their parched throats before she continued.

"She really does see us as family, but she can be downright evil at times. Fairer than some of the strict regulations put in place, but only if you follow her orders to the letter to show you have worth to her."

"Huh, sounds like a Tsundere to me." Hakuno interjected, causing Mash to stop and look at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

"Tsundere?" she asked.

"Ah…it's a slang term for someone who has a very icy exterior but a warm heart. Basically someone that is more than willing to yell and berate you in public, but will be more apologetic in a roundabout way in private." He explained.

"Hmm…that sort of sounds like her. Going back to the main subject though, that is pretty much Chaldea in a nutshell. Groups will be monitored throughout the clock to make sure that they don't lose their existence going through time to correct any abnormalities. We also managed to convert some of the Heaven's Feel ritual into Chaldea. So all masters can summon multiple servants and have command seals to help along with mystic codes that they can wear and use at any time."

Hakuno was nodding at the entire lecture. "No wonder she was upset at me. She must have thought I was mocking all the effort put into this." He said with a sigh. "So much for first impressions."

Mash gave him a warm smile in an attempt to cheer him up. "No worries Senpai. She'll put you back in the active roster soon enough. Also, we're here at your room. I have to go back to the Command Center to observe the first mission since I'm currently on duty. Good luck, Senpai." With a bow and a wave, she ran back the way they came.

Looking at the quiet little creature on his shoulder, Hakuno rubbed Fou's chin with a finger, getting it to coo in delight. "Well, at least you're here with me Fou. Zelretch too…when he's not putting on airs at least. Though everyone kept saying there are forty-seven other masters here, not including myself. Zelretch says that I'm the last one alive. I wonder what happened to them when saw how the events originally happened."

His door was set to open automatically if anyone approached since it wasn't keyed into him as of yet, so he went in immediately, only to be greeted with the sight of an adult man with orange hair and in a Chaldea uniform lounging on his bed before looking right at him. The older of the two let out a rather unmanly yelp and fell off of the bed, spilling some tea, books and sweets that had been on the side in his haste.

"Um…are you alright?" Hakuno asked, wondering if he should offer him a hand to get up. The orange haired man was quick to get back on his feet, however and was already pointing at him.

"I should be asking why you're here! This room is empty and it wasn't scheduled for anyone today. I snuck in here to make sure nobody would disturb me on my goof…I mean ah, break." The explanation fell a bit flat when he almost blurted out his real motives, but it was enough for both the teen and Fou to give him matching deadpan looks.

"Seriously?" Hakuno asked, with Fou giving a "Fou. Fou." In agreement.

Upon hearing the creature, the orange haired man's demeanor changed in an instant from offended to intrigue. "Huh. I thought only Mash and the Wizard Marshal was the one that Fou would respond to. If he's with you then you must be a good person. My apologies. My name is Dr. Romani Archaman, head of the Medical Unit here in Chaldea. Though everyone just calls me Dr. Roman for short."

With the introduction at hand, along with being offered a handshake, Hakuno warily took it and shook back. "Hakuno Kishinami. I was told I was the last of the forty eight Master candidates. I just arrived not too long ago." Subtly looking down at his Regalia, he was surprised to see that it didn't do anything. No warnings, no information…nothing. The silence was rather disturbing since the Regalia, even in his world, often gave him data to look at, no matter how insignificant.

Dr. Roman gave an understanding look. "I see. This would be your room if that's the case. My apologies. Though if you're here, I'm guessing that means you already got on the Director's bad side since all the Master candidates are supposed to be getting ready for the first mission right about now."

Hakuno rubbed the back of his neck with a slight grimace on his face. "Yeah. Fell asleep during her lecture. I was completely worn out."

Dr. Roman gave him a much more critical once over when he said that, proving at the very least that his title of 'Doctor' was not for show. "Since you're the last of the forty-eight, you must be one of the civilian masters that passed the blood test to be a Master. The simulation they had you do while you were being transported had activated your magical circuits for the first time. It must have caused a prana shortage but don't worry. Just get some rest and something from the Mess Hall when you get up and you'll be right as rain." He offered for an explanation along with a soft smile.

"Well, I was banished from the first mission so I doubt it'll be that much of an issue getting rest." Hakuno joked to which Dr. Roman gave a friendly chuckle in return.

"The Director's mood will be a lot better once the first mission is done. It's Chaldea's maiden voyage, so to speak. Since the previous Director passed away not too long ago, all the responsibilities and expectations had fallen onto her. Typical magi stuff, but it's never something you want to put onto a young girl that is still in her teens. I doubt so much as a 'thank you' or 'well done' has been given to her since she took over." Dr. Roman mused.

Hakuno looked down when he heard that. "Sounds like a rather lonely person to me."

Dr. Roman nodded in agreement. "It is, but being a magus, she knew what she was getting into. Well, I had better get going. I'm supposed to be on call in case something goes wrong with the system for the Masters on their first trip. Don't tell anyone I was here. It'll be our little secret, alright? I'm already late as it is." he asked, offering a stage wink as well.

In return, Hakuno gave his first real smile ever since he had gotten to this time and place. "Of course. Your secret is safe with me."

Dr. Roman smiled back, but before he could even make to leave, the lights in the room went out, before coming back on with the emergency red lights instead. An alarm siren began to blare and the whole facility rocked for a moment, causing Hakuno and the Doctor to grab some nearby furniture in order to not get thrown around. Fou clung onto Hakuno's shirt for its furry little life.

'_EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! A FIRE HAS BROKEN OUT IN THE CENTRAL POWER STATION AND CENTRAL COMMAND ROOM. CENTRAL AREA'S CONTAINMENT WALL WILL ACTIVATE IN 90 SECONDS! ALL STAFF MUST EVACUATE FROM GATE 2 AT ONCE! REPEAT-'_

The message was blaring at them from a loudspeaker set up in the room but Dr. Romani was already on his feet and trying to assess the situation. Running over to a terminal in the room, he quickly typed in something Hakuno couldn't see in the dim light and started speaking.

"Moniter! Show us the Central Command Room. Is everyone ok?!" he practically shouted as it slowly came to life.

It slowly came to life, blinking in and out for a few moments before the calm and serene blue hues of the Central Command Room he had seen just less than an hour before had turned into a sea of fire and red. Rubble was strewn everywhere and the central globe-like object looked more like a tomb than a machine.

That is when Hakuno's conversation with Mash earlier came to the forefront of his mind and he ran over to Dr. Romani. "That's where Mash was! Is she ok?!" he asked, praying that the nice person who had helped him out and was honestly probably the only person he would've called friend in this facility aside from Fou was alive.

Dr. Roman was silent for a moment before turning around and giving Hakuno an extremely serious look. "Kishinami, please evacuate from here. I'm going to the Central Command Room. You have to leave before the containment wall closes. Get yourself out before it's too late." He warned before rushing out the door.

Hakuno was silent, gripping his now white knuckles as Fou gave him a judgmental look. Seeking an answer to a silent question that they both knew.

"I'm no coward Fou. Let's go and get Mash. She doesn't deserve to be stuck here either." He told the creature, who gave him a nod that showed, in his eyes, respect to his decision.

"Fou!"

With his mind made up, he ran out of his room as well, running as fast as his legs could take him towards the Central Command Room. Along the way, he ran into Dr. Roman, who looked at him incredulously as they sharply turned down a corridor.

"Kishinami! Gate 2 is the other way!" he shouted, but Hakuno was not listening. Groaning to himself, the doctor could only shake his head before moving up his pace.

_Central Command Room_

With both of them running, the doctor and Hakuno both reached the Central Command Room in under a minute from what was ordinarily a five minute walking trip.

Upon Roman using an override code to open the door, however, both had to step back as a gout of flame rose up and nearly roasted them and Fou alive. When it had calmed down enough, both men steeled their will and jumped into the room, which was quickly filling up with the acrid smoke. It was even worse than they had seen on the monitor.

What looked to be a large black hole of twisted metal shooting upwards greeted them in the center of the room. To the left and right of the globe that was Chaldeas, the coffin-like constructs that Hakuno had seen but not commented on were pitch black. Now that he was running on a high of adrenaline, he saw that there were forty-eight of them, twenty four on each side. One for every Master.

Everything else in the Central Command Room; Monitors, computers, magical instruments…all were destroyed, blood and body parts splayed across the room like a gory horror film. All while the fire still raged on.

"No Survivors. Only Chaldeas is left. That hole in the middle of the room…that proves that this was no accident. This is sabotage and we have a traitor in our midst." Dr. Roman grimly noted.

As he was taking note of everything, the PA system blared back to life.

'_GENERATOR OPERATION STOPPED. POWER LEVEL CRITICAL. SWITCH TO THE BACKUP GENERATOR. ERROR. PLEASE MAKE SWITCH MANUALLY.'_

_ 'CONTAINMENT WALL WILL CLOSE IN 40 SECONDS. ALL STAFF REMAINING IN CENTRAL AREA, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.'_

Grimacing, Dr. Roman turned to Hakuno. "I'm going down to the Central Power Station. No matter what happens, Chaldea's light cannot go out. The Preservation of Humanity must be upheld. Go back the way we came. You can still make it out. Make sure help will come." He ordered before running to a side door that miraculously survived the explosion and wasn't covered in rubble.

Hakuno didn't listen, staying in place as he and Fou looked at the carnage and destruction around them. "It doesn't matter what year you live in…someone always wants to take away another's happiness." He muttered.

_ 'SYSTEM SWITCHING TO THE FINAL PHASES OF RAYSHIFT. COORDINATES – AD 2004, JANUARY 30__th__, FUYUKI, JAPAN.'_

'_Wasn't that when and where the Holy Grail War took place here?' _Hakuno thought to himself as the PA system kept going.

'_LAPLACE'S SHIFTING PROTECTION ESTABLISHED. SINGULARITY'S ADDITIONAL FACTOR SLOT, SECURED. UNSUMMON PROGRAM, SET. PLEASE START FINAL ADJUSTMENTS.'_

Shaking his head, Hakuno decided to start looking. Dr. Roman only gave the place an once-over. There could have been a survivor trapped under some of the rubble and he planned to stay there looking till the end.

_'I guess this is what Zelretch meant when he said this is where the anomaly started. I'm the last Master and the person who should have been here died in this area.' _He thought to himself as he carefully jumped over some of the rubble, making sure to look in every nook and cranny he could see for any signs of survivors.

His wish was granted when he heard the sound of shifting rock coming from almost right in front of Chaldeas, causing him to run over and help move aside the stone and concrete. It was hard to miss because it was the largest of the ceiling that had come crumbling down during the explosion. Even as his hands burned for doing so, feeling real pain after experiencing only digital pain for so long he did not stop.

Getting the last bits of masonry out of the way, he came face to face with Mash, who gave a surprised look before offering a pained smile even as blood dripped down from a crack on her skull no doubt.

He had the Regalia do a quick scan of her and the results it gave back to him were grim. The lower half of her body was entirely crushed underneath the giant piece of ceiling that she was trapped by. That she was still alive was an outright miracle. It gave a rough estimate of about five and a half minutes left before she died from the trauma and blood loss.

Already on his hands and knees, Hakuno felt tears beginning to flow from his eyes. Wasn't this exact scenario what Zelretch was trying to prevent from happening? To save everyone so that human history wouldn't be destroyed? So why couldn't he even do something as simple as staying up for a damn lecture? He could have saved them…done something. Had the Regalia scan and find the bomb. Instead, he failed from the get-go.

"Mash…I'm sorry." He apologized.

"It's…ok…Senpai. Please…run…save…yourself…" she weakly pleaded, wheezing with everything breath she took and word that she spoke.

Fou had hopped off his shoulder, trying to comfort Mash by licking her cheek. She offered a weak smile before they felt…a shift. Something…wrong…flowing through the room.

Looking up at Chaldeas, it began functioning once more. Though instead of a calm blue, it was a very, very fiery red. Almost like a miniature sun.

_'WARNING ALL OBSERVATION STAFF. CHALDEAS' STATE HAS CHANGED. NOW RE-WRITING SHIVA'S NEAR-FUTURE PREDICTION DATA. UNABLE TO DETECT THE EXISTANCE OF MANKIND 100 YEARS IN THE NEAR-FUTURE ON EARTH. UNABLE TO CONFIRM HUMAN SURVIVORS. UNABLE TO GUARANTEE MANKIND'S FUTURE.'_

The warning gave a clear picture of what was going to happen next. There had to be something, ANYTHING that he could do.

That was when they heard the sound of something heavy slamming shut behind them. '_Oh shit.'_ Hakuno thought as he realized what that noise was.

_'CENTRAL AREA, SEALED. 180 SECONDS UNTIL INTERNAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES.'_

"…They…shut off…the area. Now...you…can't escape." Mash realized.

Hakuno put on a brave smile for her. "Looks like it." He agreed

_'COFFIN VITALS: MASTERS. BASELINE NOT REACHED. RAYSHIFT REQUIREMENT…NOT MET. SEARCHING FOR QUALIFYING MASTER…FOUND. CANDIDATE NO. 48, HAKUNO KISHINAMI, RESET AS MASTER. UNSUMMON PROGRAM, START. SPIRITRON CONVERSION, START.'_

While the warning was going off, Hakuno looked up. This was the fatal moment when the original Master had been killed. He too saw the ceiling continuing to crack and crumble. He quickly jumped and dived to the floor before a large piece came crashing down where he stood moments before.

Mash looked at him with amazement, even as she laid dying. "Senpai…would you mind…holding my hand?" she requested as a final wish.

Getting up, Hakuno sat down next to her and gently took her hand into his own, clasping their fingers together and showing their intertwined hands.

"Until the end." He promised as Fou climbed into his lap and settled down there.

_RAYSHIFTING COMMENCING IN 3…2…1. ALL PROCEDURES CLEARED. FIRST ORDER, COMMENCING OPERATION._

From in front of Chaldeas, what looked to be a black hole of sorts came into existence. Its power and pull far too much for anything to handle that was nearby. Hakuno, Mash and Fou all closed their eyes and let it take them. If this was their only escape out of the Command Center before the Containment Procedures began…he would make sure that they took it.

'_Zelretch…Doctor Roman…I hope you two made it out ok. Even you, Olga Marie. Nobody deserves to die a death like this.'_

If Hakuno had opened his eyes, he would have seen that their bodies were glowing with a soft, golden light. Their matter being converted and mass exchanged. An impossibility made possible through a fusion of magic and technology.

If he had opened his eyes…he would have thought that for a moment…it was almost like he was back home.

END CHAPTER 1

A/N: To start. I do not own the Fate/Extra series nor the Fate/Grand Order series. They belong to their creators and obviously Nasu.

Now that this is out of the way. I can already imagine some of you are like: Really CLZ? ANOTHER story?

Yes. Yes it is. I love the Fate series a lot, but I find the lack of Fate/Extra stuff disturbing. 90% of it is also dedicated to the female Hakuno. Nothing against her, but let's change that. So that, became this. A Not!Shirou crossover, a Not!Ritsuka focused story. Rather, our unlucky bastard of a protagonist Hakuno Kishinami, survivor of shit that not even Shirou Emiya would honestly have made it through because let's face it…CCC Sakura, Kiara and Sephyr outdo all of the Fate/SN villains by a large margin, even their Sakura.

If you complain that Ritsuka had it harder…please remember that for at least the first game, all Hakuno had was amnesia, no sense of survival, no knowledge of how to hack, a Servant whose stats almost ALL started at E rank and he STILL managed to overcome everything and beat a Saver Class Servant (who I still think is Buddha) with the help of just Rin or Rani depending on your route.

Second game he had the help of a few more people…like 5 more. Still one Servant. Two Antagonists that consistently change the rules to favor them. One of whom isolated him and tried to torture him into insanity for her insane concept of 'love' and wanting to make sure he didn't die…despite that what she did to him was essentially death in and of itself. Still nothing on Chaldea's 20+ staff, Servant Summonings by the Dozens, Craft Essences helping out, etc. etc. helping out Ritsuka.

Extella…well, he split himself into three, knowing that he could actually die if nothing was done, plus Sephyr. Ritsuka…yeah no. He survives on Gacha and Mash. Not even close. Extella Link, he had to deal with everyone turning against him almost.

If there was anyone who started with their backs against the wall from moment one, it was Hakuno, who summoned his Servant while having a programs spear arm thrust through his gut while on deaths door. At least Shirou knew how to protect himself and Ritsuka had Mash at the onset. Hakuno had nothing but just a will to survive. Not even memories to call his own.

You'll also notice that he has his Regalia. It's a plot device and his Bullshit card mixed into one. It is not a be-all, cure-all sort of thing, but in a series where your future is determined by Gacha, one must do whatever it takes to turn the tide in their favor. It will mostly warn him and let him know about Servants/enemies/etc. along with a few other neat little tricks.

Also, I will try to make all of Hakuno's initial servants at least somewhat original in that they haven't been introduced in Grand Order yet, be it that it's an alternate class version of a character or just not outright introduced period. The only exception is Medusa, who is awesome and after Sakura, is my number two spot for Waifu. Tamamo firmly sits at 3.

For those still waiting on The Show Must Go On…you'll have to wait longer. I scrapped the chapter because I wrote myself into a corner. So I'm starting fresh there.

I'm also helping to beta read a few other fanfics. The most recent of which is The Fake Player, a Fate/Stay and Overlord crossover. Has one of the most badass battle scenes I've had the pleasure of reading. Check it out if you have the spare time.

Finally, I leave you with this.

_Omake: Fou's Gender_

While walking with Mash down the corridors of Chaldea, a question popped up into Hakuno's mind. "Hey Mash…what gender is Fou anyways? I've been referring in my head to being 'it' or 'him' but do you know?"

Mash shook her head. "Nobody really knows. Fou has never sat down long enough to be checked over for any genitalia showing signs of gender. Also…each time we try to observe Fou using the restroom to help make a decision…well…" she began to falter as she explained everything.

Before Hakuno could ask what was wrong, he felt Fou hop off his shoulder. "Fou?" he asked, watching the tiny white ball of fluff bound over to a nearby unisex restroom. With a rather amazing display of natural agility and athleticism, Fou managed to somehow reach the handle, turn it and open the door. Hakuno didn't even get a chance to mentally question what was happening before Fou grabbed a newspaper and entered the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

"…that happens. I know that Fou is potty trained, but everyone agrees that this is rather…ridiculous. He always chooses the Unisex bathrooms as well just to rub it in. We just refer to Fou as a 'he' or 'it' depending on who you're talking to for simplicity's sake." Mash finished.

They both heard a few minutes later the sound of a toilet flushing, following by a soap dispenser activating, the sound of a running sink and the sound of an air-dryer going off. Eventually, Fou came back out, looking pristine and satisfied with itself.

Climbing up Mash's body, Fou decided to take a small nap inside of her hood, satisfied in knowing that it tricked another Human once more.


	2. Chapter 2: The Second Fuyuki Fire

Extella/Grand Order

Chapter 2: The Second Fuyuki Fire

_?_

_?_

Hakuno felt heat all around him. An uncomfortable heat like as if someone had turned up the air conditioning way too high for their amusement. It didn't help that being forcefully transported once more across time and space, his stabilized body was jarred all over again, leaving him one massive lump of pain. In response to this, the Regalia instantly went into self-preservation mode and made his body activate a healing spell, mending his internal wounds to a working status and brining his consciousness back up to snuff.

Taking in a deep breath, he instantly regretted it as soot, dust, dry air and smog entered his nose, mouth and lungs, causing him to cough and pull up his shirt to act as a makeshift filter for a moment. His eyes opened slowly and his body, despite being healed, swayed drunkenly as he attempted to force himself up.

_'Mash…Fou…gotta make sure…they're ok.'_ He thought as he saw nothing but destroyed concrete and fire all around him.

His hearing came back moments later, going into that annoying ringing noise as it attempted to equalize itself before he could pick up voices once more.

_'..i. Se….i…n…up….pl….g….up!' _he heard in bits and pieces, like radio static as he managed to get on one knee.

Gritting his teeth, he forced his other leg to get up as well. Despite his muscles screaming at him to stop, he managed to stand once more…and what greeted him was a sight that could be described as no less than _'Hell on Earth'_.

He had thought Chaldea's Central Command Room being destroyed was bad. What he saw in front of him…he saw a whole city that was on the exact same level. It was awash in a sea of flames and destruction. Once tall and proud buildings crumbled underneath their own weight as the concrete and steel used to make them melted underneath the unforgiving fire. Any and all human bodies that he could see were charred into unrecognizable messes of ruined flesh and boiled blood.

The Regalia also told him that while the fire happened almost instantaneously, the building damage had been around for far longer. If this was a Singularity like the PA announcement had said, along with the time and date coinciding with the fifth Holy Grail War…something happened that would both extend it and perverse it into something distinctly UN-holy. He was so lost in the sight in front of him that he almost missed the warning signal that the Regalia pushed into his brain to move out of the way. Reacting subconsciously, he rolled forward and looked behind him, only to nearly gag at what he saw.

It was a skeleton…or a partial one anyways. He could still see bits and pieces of flesh covering it, making it seem like a zombie if it wasn't for the fact that everything else that was important was gone. More disturbing was that not only was it walking, it was holding an iron slab of a sword as a weapon that had attempted to murder him.

Being used to being attacked and wanting to be killed by different opponents, he quickly flipped his mental switch from being 'scared' to 'kill this thing before it kills me'. Raising his left hand, clad with Regalia on finger, he called on his od and prana to channel the elements into his hand. Having a walking encyclopedia on all human history, including all spells that he could cast without needing absurd prep time, was very handy. In an instant, a sharp icicle appeared in front of him and he pointed it at the skeleton.

"_Freeze_!" he shouted and the icicle shot forward, piercing the shambling skeleton right at the exact center of its body before it exploded, an entire small pillar of subarctic ice taking its place before it shattered into pieces, taking the skeleton with it. Slightly wasteful compared to a fireball, but since they were already in a hellscape, he didn't want to take any chances on it being fire resistant.

Now that proper focus on his situation began to kick in, Hakuno looked around for this two companions. "Mash! Fou?! Can you hear me?!" He shouted at the top of his voice before coughing when he inhaled too much smog and dry air again. He would have used a spell to do something akin to sonar, but he only had so much prana and od to use and even the Regalia wasn't infinite in its prana reserves. So until he could tap into a leyline or something that had a lot of magical energy which he could safely absorb and convert, he had to make every single spell he did use count.

Until that happened, he resorted to careful moving amongst the debris and hiding from some of the skeletal warriors that he saw. He kept his eyes and ears out for any sign of Fou's signature cries or Mash calling out for him…if she hadn't died already. He hoped that her whole body was transported here and not just the visible part of it at the very least.

After several minutes of silence, he picked up the sounds of battle. Steel clashing against steel before the sound of broken or shattered bones reached his ear. Hakuno hoped that it was an ally, rather than an enemy as he slowly approached from the side. What he saw at that moment astounded him and would amaze him for days to come.

He saw Mash; dainty, pure Mash holding up a giant slab of iron in the shape of…a cross mixed with a shield? Cross-shield? Whatever it was, she was holding it effortlessly. Fou was carefully positioning himself within her range, yipping and barking whenever something attempted to approach her blind side. She was going against a large group of skeletons armed to the teeth and their numbers were not thinning out…rather for each one she killed, two more popped up.

Normally, he would be overjoyed that not only was she ok, she was actually quite alive and healthy to be fighting back like she was when only minutes ago she was knocking on deaths door quite literally. That was to say nothing about her outfit change. She had gone from a lab assistant look to armor that covered her breasts, arms, knees and legs with heels at the end to boot.

'_Regalia, any solution to make Mash's life easier?' _Hakuno thought to the supercomputer ring. After several seconds, a message appeared in his mind to answer the query which flashed through his mind in mere nanoseconds for him to comprehend, respond and agree to a solution.

'_Solution, two found. One is to project a wide-area spell of holy light. Modestly draining, but ensures thorough erasure of hostiles, no prior knowledge of holy magic needed to cast. Second solution is to use magic: Projection and Reinforcement. Make Holy Church Black Keys. Inadvisable due to host subject not knowing holy attack scripture, how to properly throw knives or how to fight with them. Far less of a drain on magical reserves, however, in the long run.'_

He didn't have time to wait for the Regalia to comb through the information needed to make him the equivalent of the Holy Church's Executors. Even if it did, that only gave him the mental knowledge and none of the physical knowledge needed to pull it off. He'd still be an average human waving a holy weapon he didn't know how to properly use in the end. So option one it was. The Regalia responded to his choice by giving him the proper knowledge of how to use holy light as a magical spell.

Getting down on one knee, he called forth an element that was almost gone to this realm since the Age of Gods had been long over. A shining light appearing in his hand, almost blinding in its intensity but giving off no heat. Instead, being bathed in its radiance made one feel safe and comfortable, like all would be right with the world. He had to steady the hand that he had placed the magic into, lest he drop it, hurt himself and wasted the magic for nothing. Slowly, the light went from a dim luster to a brilliant shine, causing all the skeletons to stop their advance on Mash and Fou and instead turn their attention to him.

Contrary to popular belief, one did not need to be a member of the church or any religion to use Holy magic or even holy objects. Faith only enhanced the power that was put into a spell. Conversely, to the few Gods left in the world, those who earned their favor could cast the magic for free or with massive benefits and little drawbacks.

To those that trained hard enough, or had an out such as Hakuno's Regalia, they could just summon holy magic as a rather powerful light which only _'drives evil back from whence it came, bringing salvation to the lost'_. Those who were evil were smited. Those who harbored evil thoughts would find them fading if it wasn't their sole guidance. Zombies and forcefully risen spirits like skeletons…would find the peace that they were so rightfully denied.

"Let those who are twisted from the right path find their way back to a peaceful slumber. _Holy Lance_!" he shouted before throwing the shining ball of light into the sky. At the apex of the throw, the light hovered, defying gravity for a moment before bursting into dozens of smaller lights. Each of those lights then became sharp, turning into a needle like projection before they all shot downwards like bullets from a machine gun. Every needle of light that touched a skeleton made it glow for a brief second before it burst into ashes. None of them came close to touching Mash and Fou, but all the skeletons were annihilated by the holy magic.

It was definitely a modest drain and Hakuno felt like had just ran a 5 mile marathon course, sweat dripping freely from his brow and his legs and arms burning from the exertion his magical circuits had gone through. Still, it was enough and both Mash and Fou were immediately at his side.

"Senpai! Thank Goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug that he quickly found himself trying to pull away from when she placed too much pressure into it.

"Mash...can't…_breathe…_" he gasped, his face beginning to go an interesting shade of purple.

"Oh!" Immediately, she let go of him and Fou scrambled up onto him, causing Hakuno to hold him like a puppy or kitten and offering a smile of relief.

"I'm glad you're ok too Fou. Though Mash…what are you wearing? Why isn't half your body crushed?" he asked, curious about the wardrobe change and her dramatic health comeback.

A dark blush came onto her face when he called her out on that.

"I…uh…we should find a safe place first before we discuss that. I do not wish for these skeletal warriors to come back in greater numbers." Mash deflected, but she also had a good point. It wasn't easy to talk and fight at the same time when he wasn't that much of a combatant to speak of. These spells were too draining on his non-Moon Cell flesh and blood body to repeatedly sling out. "Also, for a civilian, you're well versed in spells."

Hakuno offered a slight smirk over her surprise in that. "What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."

Fou yipped in agreement to that statement.

Before they could even attempt to leave the area, however, Hakuno heard an incessant beeping noise coming from Mash. More specifically, her wrist.

"Mash, are you going to explode or something?" he asked seriously.

Mash had the good grace to blush again at the fact that it did sound somewhat like a countdown noise. "No. This is the communicator that all Chaldea employees are supposed to have for Singularity missions. It connects us to the Command Center to give mission updates and request supplies. You were supposed to have one as well, Senpai, but with everything happening so fast and you not even having a proper Chaldea Mystic Code Uniform…well, it worked out for you at least." She explained before tapping at a certain point in her gauntlet covered wrist.

A few seconds later, a fuzzy, grainy hologram appeared in front of them. In full view was Dr. Romani Archaman, who looked extremely nervous and scared, with good reason.

"Finally! I managed to make it through. Can you three hear me? This is from the Chaldea Command Room, over." He said, the voice coming through clear despite the image quality being poor.

Mash stepped in front of the Hologram and motioned for Hakuno and Fou to join her. "This is Mash Kyrielight of A Team. At this time I have successfully Rayshifted into Singularity F. The only other person with me is Master Candidate 48, Hakuno Kishinami. Spiriton shift was perfect and both his mind and body are intact. If the system is still working, please register Hakuno as an official researcher."

Being able to see them, Dr. Romani gave a sigh of relief, doubly so at the update that Mash gave him. "So you ignored all warnings and got Rayshifted, Mr. Kishinami? At least you're alright. That's what matters. Being Rayshifted without Coffin usage is extremely dangerous. You can 'lose your existence' if improperly done."

Then he got a better look at Mash and the good doctor found himself blushing. "Mash, what is with that outfit?! It's shameless! I didn't raise you to dress like that!" he shouted.

"It was umm…during the Rayshift. I had to protect Senpai and Chaldea's Uniform wouldn't do me much good." Mash quickly explained, blushing at being called out on her new clothes for a second time. "Just check my condition. It should explain everything."

Hakuno gave Mash a frown from behind her at being kept in the dark, but Romani quickly did as she asked and found himself blinking in shock.

"Physical Strength…Magic Circuits…everything has gone beyond human limits. Only a Servant could have such parameters. Mash…." Romani motioned to Hakuno who was behind her and she gave a small nod in return.

"While it is still dangerous in our position, I can quickly verify. I have become a cross between a human and a Servant. Our A team was provided with one for the Singularity, but the Master was cut off during the explosion. Without mana sustaining it, the Servant would have vanished." As she was explaining, she was also quickly looking around her to make sure no more Skeletal Warriors were near their position.

"Before it vanished, it offered me a contract. It would give me its skills, weapon and parameters as a Heroic Spirit and I would eliminate the cause of this Singularity. I accepted…I didn't want to die. I didn't want to have Senpai die because of me." Bitter tears came to her face at this point, remembering the phantom pain of having her body crushed, of not wanting her last moments to be alone and to have Senpai hold her hand, which he did.

"Dr. Romani, I hate to cut this short, but we should really get moving. We were attacked as soon as we got here. If any of the working equipment can do so, is there a way to locate a safe zone?" Hakuno quickly cut in, gently rubbing the back of Mash's neck to help calm her down with one hand while Fou jumped to her shoulder and licked her cheek to offer his own help.

Sadly, Dr. Romani was in researcher mode still and completely ignored him. "A Demi-Servant…human and servant fused…Chaldea's sixth experiment." He muttered, something Hakuno quickly locked on to.

'_I really don't like the sound of that…or that Zelretch, since he went further back than me, might have approved such a thing.'_ He thought to himself.

Breaking that train of thought, he saw that Mash had recovered somewhat and she and Dr. Romani were talking.

"I do not know which Heroic Spirit I am. He only gave me his combat abilities, skills, the ability to use his Noble Phantasm and weapon before vanishing. Even his True Name was not given. I'm sorry." She told the hologram.

"At the very least, you're alive and you're completely trustworthy. That's what matters." Dr. Romani responded with a small smile on his face.

"Doctor, focus. We need directions." Hakuno cut in once more.

"Oh! Right…uh…huh? That's odd…aside from seeing that apparently you've subconsciously entered a Master and Servant contract with Mash, which probably explains why you two were able to stabilize and Rayshift successfully…I'm picking up two other signals of life that ping positive for Chaldea staff." Dr. Romani noted as he began to use the equipment in front of him to look at something beyond their scope of view.

A moment later, the doctor gasped. "I…I don't believe this. Somehow, there were two other people who Rayshited with you. It's the Wizard Marshal and the Director! They're alive! Er…unalive in the Marshal's case but still!"

Hakuno sucked in a deep breath at hearing that both Olga Marie and Zelretch were still alive. Zelretch, he could believe…Olga Marie, however, had no doubt been at Ground Zero when that explosion went off. How she survived that explosion was beyond his ability to grasp factually at that moment.

"Well, to answer your earlier question Mr. Kishinami, there is a leyline about two kilometers from your position, south by southeast right where the Director is located. It looks like…a community center of sorts? Regardless, get there and Mash can handle the rest. It will also let you stabilize the connection and –"Just as he was about to finish his explanation, the connection was cut and Romani's image and voice both vanished.

"Umm…Senpai…" Mash spoke up in a hesitant voice.

"Yes Mash?" Hakuno asked, already having a slight clue about what she might ask him next.

"Are you…not surprised by all of this? Servants…a Master and Servant contract between us…anything?" Was her meek response.

Hakuno shook his head slightly. "Not really. I might be labeled as a civilian but I know the basics at least." Looking down at his left hand, he could see the three symbols that had once gone dormant when he had left the Moon Cell light up in a familiar blood red glow, indicating his status as a Master. "The demi-servant and experiment stuff…the singularities…that stuff is new to me. Right now though, we need to focus on safety."

Mash nodded in agreement and Fou quickly shuffled back into Hakuno's arms. "Right. Let's go, Sen-I mean…Master!" she quickly corrected herself as she pointed in the direction they were supposed to be heading. In the distance, a large bridge could barely be made out along with even more buildings that were destroyed by the fire or other buildings falling atop of them. "I also see hostiles in that direction. Please, command me as I'm…rather new to all this when the time comes for battle."

Hakuno gave a small nod in understanding before they ran off, making sure to avoid heavy fighting when they could to conserve energy.

_Fuyuki City_

_Business District, Community Center Area_

_10 minutes later_

It was times like these that Hakuno was grateful that even in the Moon Cell with a digital body he went through training with Archer, Cu and Nero. In not so many words, all three agreed that a lazy and un-athletic master was very much a dead one when the time came to make an escape in battle. To all the female servants and one Astolfo, it helped serve him as eye-candy for their enjoyment and amusement. So even running two kilometers, while occasionally stopping to direct Mash in combat, only slightly winded him.

On her end, Mash did not look like she was breaking a sweat at all. Her face and body were slightly covered in skeletal dust and soot from the fire and wind, but not much else. She also used her 'shield thingy' as he called it quite effectively as a blunt instrument of destruction.

It wasn't long before they and Fou made it to their destination and just in time too. The familiar white hair of Olga Marie was quite distinctive as she began to be surrounded by skeletons. She fired magic out of her finger like bullets, but it seemed like these skeletons were more resistant to magic than the ones they had ran into as they took it without a care in the world.

As they got closer, Hakuno could see the look in Olga Marie's eyes. The sheer terror, pure horror…a girl who was not yet a woman at the end of her metaphorical rope.

She quickly whipped around to fire another dark looking magical bullet like spell at a Skeletal Warrior that had gotten too close before cursing up a storm. One that they could all hear.

"What are these creatures? Why do all these things always happen to me?!" she cried out. At this point, either her adrenaline wore out, her nerves finally snapped or she had used too much of her od, but she collapsed onto her knees, unwilling to do anything further.

"I can't take it anymore! Please save me Leff! You were always there for me right?" she cried out, tears streaming down from her eyes.

As she said this, Hakuno remembered what Dr. Romani had told him earlier about Olga Marie's rather fragile ego.

'_Since the previous Director passed away not too long ago, all the responsibilities and expectations had fallen onto her. Typical magi stuff, but it's never something you want to put onto a young girl that is still in her teens. I doubt so much as a 'thank you' or 'well done' has been given to her since she took over.'_ He had told him.

'_No one has ever thanked her, or even praised her. Not even so much as a show of affection.'_ Hakuno thought before springing into action. "Mash, save the Director at all costs!"

The Demi-Servant gave a resolute nod before dashing into the fray shield first and bowling the Skeletal Warriors over like so many pins. Hakuno himself quickly fired another low-cost icicle spell as a form of cover for himself as he slid to Olga Marie's side and hefted her up with one hand, Fou quickly falling out of his arms so he could also use his other hand to assist. "Come on Director! We'll get you out of here."

At being touched, it seemed to snap the white-haired magus out of her funk. "H-huh? You two?" she muttered, her eyes wide with surprise.

Not waiting for her to get her act completely together, Hakuno quickly half-pulled, half-carried her out of the melee as Mash fought off their attackers. After a few battles, he could see that she quickly learned how to use her shield a lot more offensively now in a more counter-based fighting style.

The Demi-Servant would use the shield to first block and stop an enemy's momentum, then use the weight of her shield to force them back, breaking their equilibrium. From there, she quickly used the cross-section of her shield to slice, bash or rush into the enemy to put them out of commission. Already in the time it took for Hakuno to reach the Director and pull her out of danger, Mash had destroyed the twelve Skeletal Warriors that had been attacking her.

It was only after Hakuno got himself, Olga Marie and Fou into a more defensive position in a choke-point alleyway that he called for Mash to fall back. Despite there being no visible enemies, she made sure to look in all directions as she dashed backwards towards them.

By this point, Olga Marie had already recovered all of her senses and she was looking at Mash carefully.

"Are you ok Director?" the Demi-Servant asked.

"Mash, what is going on?" her superior demanded.

It was all the pink haired girl could do to just blink at the suddenness of that question in return to her own.

"U-um…I know this is hard to believe, but…" she began to explain before she was cut off.

"You're a Demi-Servant, I can plainly see that. I more so meant that why is it now successful!"

Then she whirled around at Hakuno and got up in his face.

"As for you! You're the Civilian who slept through my speech and I forbade from coming on the first mission. Why are you here? Why are you contracted to Mash?"

At this point, Hakuno felt like he could have been in the right to be angry. To shove Olga Marie's rescue right in her face and demand at the very least a 'thank you' from her. Though as much as he wanted to, he knew that all of this was just bluff and bluster from her.

His eyes saw how the Director was still shaking, her voice tremoring and slightly breaking at points. She was still scared out of her mind and only trying to play the part of Director, when in reality she was just a terrified teenage girl put into a situation nobody should ever have to go through.

Recalling Romani's words once more, Hakuno swallowed all of his self-righteous anger and pride and instead did what he needed to do.

Surprising everyone, he went and he hugged Olga Marie tightly, one hand gently patting the back of her head comfortably in a soothing gesture.

"S-s-senpai!" Mash exclaimed, her face going beet red at what she thought to be an intimate gesture.

"WHAT ARE YOU-"Olga Marie began to shout, her face also red but for far different reasons, before Hakuno stepped in.

"Director Olga Marie Animusphere…thank you for surviving. I'm glad you're still alive. You did an amazing job lasting as long as you did. Please, calm down so we can properly help you." He told her.

At this point, Olga Marie's anger died in an instant, instead being replaced with an even darker blush as she was not only thanked, but praised! For the first time in her life since she took over for Chaldea, someone actually appreciated her. While she would never admit it, his words moved her heart far more than any gesture ever could. Even Leff did not acknowledge her in such a way when they talked.

She still had appearances to keep though, so she quickly shoved Hakuno away after letting him hold her for another minute or so.

"W-w-well, be grateful for me allowing you to do such a thing without blasting you into oblivion." She said with a huff at the end while giving Mash the stink eye when she heard the other girl giggling.

"So, status update. Mash, explain why you're in a contract with Candidate…er…Mr. Kishinami and our current situation." She corrected herself halfway, her blush still entirely visible on her face. Even Fou seemed to have a smirk on his furry little face over that expression.

"Understood Director. I'll also attempt to establish a connection with the leylines as you were almost right on top of them when we found you." Mash quickly agreed.

_10 minutes later_

Hakuno was utterly confused on how Mash's shield seemed to be the Swiss-army knife of magical objects. It defended, it attacked and somehow it managed to establish a cross-dimensional leyline shift between Fuyuki and Chaldea despite being over a decade and half a world apart from each other. The Regalia offered an explanation but he quickly declined, letting the supercomputer know he was being sarcastic.

"Director…was there any chance at all that some of the other Master Candidates aside from Senpai managed to make it here?" Mash asked as she attempted to get into contact with Central Command.

Thinking about it for a moment, Olga Marie slowly shook her head. "I highly doubt it. The common factor on how you, me, Kishinami, Fou and even the Wizard Marshal are all here seems to be connected to the fact that we were not in the coffins at the time of rayshifting. It's odd though, Leff was right there with the two of us when…the explosion happened but I didn't see him anywhere here. If it wasn't for the Wizard Marshal quickly shielding the two of us with a barrier spell…" she trailed off, giving an explanation on how she managed to survive such a horrible attack.

"There's a traitor in Chaldea. Dr. Roman said as much." Hakuno let her know.

"That should be impossible. I know each and every member. I've talked to and known them for years and all of them agreed that this was the best course of action. My father personally vetted for each and every one of them." Olga Marie stated with confidence, despite placing her hand on her head and rubbing it to stave off an impending headache.

Then she picked up on who Hakuno had just said let him know that.

"Wait…Dr. Archaman? Why is he in Central Command giving out orders?"

It was at that exact moment that Mash managed to re-establish the connection to Chaldea. Instead of the fuzzy hologram from earlier, it was now a very clear picture of Dr. Roman's back as he was shouting orders to seemingly thin air, but they knew he must have gathered some of the surviving staff to help him out.

"Dr. Romani Archaman!" Olga Marie barked out, getting the man's attention as he nearly leapt out of his skin.

"Director Animusphere! You're alive! Oh thank goodness." He said with a relieved smile on his face.

Olga Marie didn't share the sentiment at the moment. "Why are you giving orders to the staff in Central Command right now? You're the head of medical research, there's a long list of more capable chain of command that should have taken over." She requested to know.

At this, the doctor's smile fell off of his face. "Director…I'm the highest member of staff left in Chaldea. Everyone that was higher up than me was in the blast zone when the bomb went off in Central Command. After gathering the surviving staff, I was informed that several of the barracks and other areas were bombed as well. Thankfully the most important parts of Chaldea for functionality and survival; Engineering, Food Stores, Kitchen, Life Support, Medical…all of them were untouched. Whoever did this deliberately wanted the Chain of Command gone." He explained.

Olga Marie's eyes widened at the news. "E-e-everyone? They're all gone?" she repeated in disbelief.

Dr. Roman gave a sad nod of acknowledgement. "Everyone. If you meet the Wizard Marshal, give him thanks for all of us here. If he didn't countermand Professor Lev's order that everyone should gather in the Central Command room and instead keep doing their normal routine, there would be less surviving staff, probably less than twenty. In total, due to his order, there is about eighty of us left counting those in critical condition and currently in the med bay and excluding the Master Candidates. I estimate by next week our numbers might sadly go down to seventy or less for…psychological reasons not including those that don't make it."

Olga Marie's knees gave out once more as she was essentially told that Chaldea's command staff was gutted. All of the most capable minds in the entire world, gone in an instant.

"W-what about the Master Candidates? You said they were excluded." She managed to ask.

Dr. Roman shook his head. "They're all essentially in a coma or vegetable like state at the moment. We are critically short on medical supplies and –"

At this point, Olga Marie jumped in front of the hologram as if she was about to attempt to strangle him regardless of the fact that they were rayshifted.

"You idiot! You call yourself head of medical?! The coffins have a cryonic preservation mode so use it! The Master Candidates can attempt to be revived later once we've requested for assistance from the Clocktower but they must survive at all costs!" she all but howled at him.

Dr. Roman, for his part, managed to shift gears quickly. "A-ah, yes Director! Activing Cryopreserve state now!" he agreed, using the surviving computers to do as she asked.

Mash looked at the Director with amazement. "Even though cryopreservation without consent is a crime, you instantly leaped into action without care to your reputation. Amazing Director!" she praised.

Sadly, it fell flat with Olga Marie, who looked down. "So long as they survive, I can explain myself at the tribunal later. Already so many lives are gone. I don't think I can handle another forty-seven more on my head." She admitted.

Dr. Roman looked at her with pity. "In the sake of preserving time, this will conclude my report. Chaldea has lost almost seventy percent of its functionality due to staff shortages and sabotage. I've re-routed almost all manpower to keeping CHALDEAS' and SHIVA functioning like normal, lest we lose all of you as well. A lot of the staff that survived were non-essential, so there's only so much I can do. We will have to cross-train them or request more staff along with repairs once external communications are back up." He concluded.

"Its fine, Dr. Archaman. I would have done the same in your position. Until we return, you're in charge of Chaldea. Keep the rayshifting repairs as your top priority. Since I'm here…I'll take command of the field team of myself, Master Hakuno Kishinami, Mash and Fou. We will investigate the cause of Singularity and once we discover it, we will request to be evacuated. Once we are back to at least a semi-functioning state, we can send in a search and destroy team." Olga Marie ordered, giving her command to everyone around her.

Dr. Roman nodded and gave her a salute in respect. "Of course, Director. I'll be sending some supplies via the leyline shift and reverse-summoning using Mash's weapon, which seems to have the Noble Phantasm sealed inside of it, as a waypoint. Food, water, a small medical kit and a proper mystic code uniform for Master Candidate Hakuno Kishinami will be sent. Is there anything else?" he asked.

Neither Olga Marie nor Mash could seem to think of anything, but Hakuno raised his hand. "Yeah, please bring a sewing kit as well. I have a feeling this place is going to rip and tear through our clothes pretty quickly, mystic code or not." He politely requested.

Dr. Roman nodded in agreement. "That's true. We don't know who or what is out there and if your Mystic Code's get torn that's a lot of protection you'll be losing. Magical thread, instructions on repair and a proper field repair sewing kit will be sent. All supplies will be sent within the next ten minutes. Aside from that, I am still picking up the Wizard Marshal's signal. It's varying wildly, but he seems to be around the Fuyuki bridge area between the business and residential distractions. This is Chaldea Central Command, signing off for now."

With that, the hologram disappeared and Olga Marie looked more closely at Hakuno now. "Kishinami…you're unusually calm for someone in a situation like this. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.

Hakuno gave a small nod. "There is worse things to be scared of right now. I want to focus on what will keep us alive and be scared later."

Olga Marie didn't back down though. "Then there was what Mash was telling me earlier along with what I saw myself. That you were casting spells, despite being a civilian who should have no knowledge of the Moonlit World. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was the Wizard Marshal himself who recommended you for being the final master. At the time I thought it was one of his flights of fancy so I humored him. Now I'm wondering if he had ulterior motives." She deduced, quite well at that.

Mash couldn't help but wonder that as well. To her, Senpai had showed himself as a humble and somewhat confused young man thrust into a larger than life situation. Yet throughout their time in the Singularity, he has shown a remarkable amount of combat prowess in both directing her to conserve as much energy as possible, while making sure he pulled his own weight as well. Almost as if he had been in such situations before in the past.

He did not deny or acknowledge her guesses. "I think, at the moment, we should get Zelretch." Was his response and he kept it at that.

Both girls looked down, wondering if there was now a breach of trust between the three of them with Hakuno's abnormal behavior and knowledge of things he shouldn't know in the face of danger. In the end, they shook it off because they had a point. There was still one member of the Chaldea staff they needed to save and Wizard Marshal or not, there was only so much one can do against a Servant.

Once the supplies were sent over, everyone ate a ration bar which replenished some of their od and prana reserves. Water went next, before Hakuno stepped aside to change into the Chaldea uniform. Despite it being improper, both young women found themselves unable to resist peeking, blushing slightly when they saw that Hakuno had some nice muscles on his body from the backside…with an equally nice rear to boot despite being a boxer person which didn't show much.

One thing they both noticed, however, was that he had scars. Battle scars, by the looks of them. New, old, faded…it was the kind that a civilian should never have. Reinforcing Olga Marie's theory that Hakuno might have been brought in as an independent mercenary by the Wizard Marshal. Her burning question was why he felt the secrecy was needed.

Did he know that there was a traitor and wanted to circumvent them by inserting his own man on the inside? What was Hakuno that the Kaleidoscope himself trusted with such a task that he himself could have done with the snap of a finger? Was he being watched and Hakuno was assurance that if he was outed that he could continue the job? Why was Fou, who trusted almost nobody in Chaldea, immediately attached to him?

In the end, there was a lot more questions given than answers and answers were what everyone needed and soon by the one person who could give them: Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.

When Hakuno came out, both ladies agreed that the uniform looked quite well on him. It was form fitting at the very least.

With their break over, they all moved out, Hakuno carrying their supplies in a travel bag provided to them while Olga Marie took over Fou carrying duties. Their destination: The Fuyuki Bridge.

_Fuyuki City_

_Fuyuki Bridge_

_20 minutes later_

Several more encounters with undead hordes and Mash learning that she could 'enhance' the natural defenses of her body using one of the skills that the Servant who fused with her left her later, the trio plus Fou had reached the Fuyuki Bridge.

It was rather eerily silent and unlike the other areas of the destroyed Fuyuki, there was an aura of dread and fear hovering over them. About several minutes ago, they began slowly running into statues of people mixed in with the Skeletal Warriors. Each of them had the same look in their eyes. Pain, fear, horror and sorrow.

Now they had reached the last intersection before the bridge and in front of what was once a large office building, they could see what could be described as a demented playground of statues placed haphazardly everywhere that they could fit, even as fog began to somehow condense and make everything look hazy.

"Is this the place Mash?" Olga Marie asked, inching closer and closer to her and Hakuno as she kept trying to put up a brave front but showing her fear with a slight shiver as she could almost hear the screams of the people trapped as statues.

"Yes Director. This is where Dr. Roman pin-pointed the Wizard Marshal as being at." Mash confirmed as she warily entered a combat stance. She and her companions could all tell that everything around them was the work of a Servant and a rather cruel one at that.

"Mash, whatever you do, protect the Director at all costs." Hakuno ordered calmly as he had the Regalia focus on giving him knowledge of a Servant-penetrating stun spell that they could use to buy them time to escape if need be. It would drain almost all of his od reserves and leave his prana dangerously low, but it would be worth it if it meant that they could survive.

"Senpai…are you sure?" As his contracted Servant, Demi or not, Mash was basically programmed to place his life in front of everyone else when it came to a priority list.

Hakuno gave a firm nod. "Chaldea needs Olga Marie. As much as I don't like saying this…I'm more expendable than she is." He confirmed.

He still had a home to go to. People who loved him and wanted to be with him. He had an entire digital world to rule…but in this dimension, he wasn't any of that. Instead, Hakuno Kishinami was just a human who had a Holy Grail attached to his finger in the grand scheme of things. A replicable feat by anyone, especially if they managed to get Zelretch out on top of that.

For her part, Olga Marie blushed once more when he gave that complement of her life being worth more than his own. It was still sad to hear though but the chain of command was set as it was for a reason.

"Understood Senpai." Mash nodded to his firm determination to save the Director at any price, even himself.

As they inched closer and closer to the bridge, the sounds of battle could be heard. Steel scraping against what sounded like ice, snarls and curses being thrown around and a familiar, yet irritating laugh being heard on top of it all.

"This is truly something memorable. Even limited as I am, I always did wonder how I would stand up against someone from the Age of the Gods." Zelretch said with a hearty laugh as he appeared from the bridge and the fog that covered it looking pristine as ever, if sweating a little as he snapped his fingers. A large explosion, far larger than anything Olga Marie could do or even Hakuno in his current state, materialized in an instant.

Whatever he was fighting did not seemed to be deterred in the slightest, as the rattling of chains could be heard echoing all around them before pushing through the explosion and fire towards the vampire. It almost looked as if it was about to hit him, but before the spectators eyes, he seemed to literally phase out of existence and reappear to the side, completely untouched.

"You are nothing more than an irritating old vampire that needs to DIE!" a female voice screamed from the bridge before a black blur shot out of it and attempted to strike Zelretch in close combat.

With another smirk on his face, he simply faded out of view and reappeared in front of Hakuno and the others.

"Ah, I'm sorry Lancer but it seems like my reinforcements have arrived. Go on my apprentice, show her what you can do." He announced, grabbing Hakuno and pushing him forward akin to a human shield.

"APPRENTICE?!" Four surprised shouts came at the same time as everyone's heads snapped towards the ever grinning Wizard Marshal.

"Of course he is. I chose him to come to Chaldea, didn't I? Mash, be a dear and help him out since you are his Servant." He said with absolute confidence in his voice.

"How did…no, this isn't the time. Mash Kyrielight, preparing for battle!" The Pinkette quickly shifted from confusion to resolution as she ran in front of Hakuno, placing her shield in front of him and not a moment too soon either. The exact second she did what appeared to be a hook attached to a chain slammed into it, pushing the Demi-Servant back several feet and almost causing her to trip over Hakuno in the process.

"Zelretch you ancient vampire bastard! I did NOT agree to be your apprentice!" Hakuno shouted as before locking his eyes forward. "Mash, secure your footing and watch out. That was a lance on a chain. So we're either dealing with a Servant who has range on their weapon."

"R-right. Let me use that new skill I acquired." Mash responded before slamming her shield in front of her. "Wall of Snowflakes!" Responding to her words, a shimmering barrier formed in front of her and her comrades and they each felt like someone had slid something akin to body armor over them.

It was a spell that came just in time as the Servant came out of the fog and faced them properly.

When he glanced at her, Hakuno felt his heart ache slightly, because he KNEW this Servant, yet he did not at the same time.

She had on a black cloak that did nothing to hide her voluptuous body. Wearing almost no armor, her upper bodysuit only hid enough of her breasts to not be completely immodest, but also showed off enough to distract any male with a pulse. Combined with long legs, metal greaves and long purple hair, she gave off the aura of a seductress.

Yet it was the sigil on her hood, showing loudly and proudly that made Hakuno know who this woman was.

"Medusa."

The Servant heard her name and tilted it towards him in interest. "Hoh? I'm surprised you outed me in a single glance boy. Do you know of my legend that well?" she asked, before getting a full and proper look at him.

Hakuno quickly drifted his eyes away before they were latched onto his, knowing she had Mystic Eyes, but she froze in her tracks and scrunched her face in confusion as she continued to stare at him like a puzzle of sorts.

"How odd…I feel like I should know you and yet at the same time I don't. I feel a longing for you but at the same time I wish to do nothing more than add you to my collection of statues. How…annoying." She hissed as she held her hook-like lance in a battle ready position.

"Mash, you can't look into her eyes. Medusa was known for her Mystic Eyes!" he shouted as he focused on the information that the Regalia was downloading into his brain the moment he outed her True Name.

_Class: Lancer_

_ True Name: Medusa Alter_

_ Weapon: Harpe_

_ Skills…_

"Yes, Senpai!" Mash shouted as she used the innate skills and instincts that had been given to her by the Contracted Servant to move into Medusa's range, using her bigger weapon to block Harpe's swings and avoid even its hook due to the cross-section taking up valuable space that saved her from being damaged too much.

As for Medusa Alter herself, she was laughing with demented glee. She enjoying the fact that her opponent was an obviously defensive Servant. One with a weapon that irritated her to no end due to her legend. The shield that acted as a mirror…it made her want to rip the girl into shreds! So she twirled Harpe around and began to make wild swings and slices at almost every angle her enhanced speed as a Lancer Servant allowed her to make.

It was all Mash could do to just take all the hits and not get blown away. Even when Medusa flipped Harpe to its reverse end where a wickedly sharp pointed edge came into play, she used her enhanced Servant strength to push her foe away.

"Wizard Marshal, I think we should retreat and head back to base camp. We are NOT equipped to handle an actual Servant fight." Olga Marie suggested, getting a laugh from the older man.

"Nonsense, my not-apprentice has it more than handled." He assured her.

Even being further away, it did not stop their conversation from being heard by the Servants. "You think you can escape? The boy told you my true name. Did you think that Mystic Eyes were all I had?" Medusa Alter asked as she stepped back and brushed her hair backwards with her hands.

The very moment she did so, they turned into hissing snakes that quickly shot out from those same threads of hair and turned into chains which quickly wrapped around light posts that had been around them until all five of them were trapped in a cage of chains. Just to mock them, she lazily flipped backwards onto some of them.

"I wonder…what will happen first? Will you actually beat me? Or will I kill you all one, by one…by one? I'll leave the boy for last. It's been a long while since I considered having a bed partner and I think he will fit the part well." She taunted.

"You will not hurt Senpai…o-or make him into your toy!" Mash shouted, flushing from embarrassment at the obviously sexual pass she was trying to make towards her Master.

"Yes well…wait." Medusa Alter began to reply before her eyes zoomed in on Hakuno, who had been muttering under his breath the entire time and holding his ring clad hand out.

_"…and so I summon forth the righteous thunder of coiling fury, summoned from the heavens! Raijin, play your mighty drum, so that I might strike down that which opposes you. THUNDER REIGN!"_ he finished incanting, electricity crackling from his fingertips before he summoned a surge of actual lightning which struck the chains and electrocuted Medusa Alter, causing her to scream in pain as her muscles locked up before falling forward towards the ground.

Mash knew an opening when she saw one and she leapt into the air, using the sharpened edges of the corners of her cross-shield in hopes of lopping the Servants head right off.

Medusa Alter had other plans, however and despite Hakuno's attack penetrating her magical defenses, which were admittedly lower than if she had been summoned to another class, she was still more than capable of rolling out of harm's way before shaking the pain off.

"I changed my mind. You die first!" she howled with feminine fury.

_"HAHAHAHAHA! For a Master to pull one over you! That is absolutely hilarious. You're losing your touch Lancer." _

A disembodied voice rang throughout the area, causing the fighters to whirl around and try to figure out where it came from and if it was intending to be friend or foe.

Medusa Alter growled as she tightened her grip on Harpe. "Who are you? Show yourself!" She demanded.

_"Can't remember me by voice eh? Then if you get a good look at me you'll remember…old friend."_

A small ways away from the battle, a surge of light came forth and from it, a man with an adorned staff appeared. He wore a blue and white fur coat with the hood pulled up to cover his face. From there black leather clothing was seen from chest to foot, save for white gauntlets on his hands, greaves on his feet and a metal chain which looped around a white kilt at his waist. All of it had markings on them, showing signs of heavy enchantment.

It was quite easy to see which class this Servant belonged to.

"Caster…" Medusa Alter hissed.

In response the cloaked man pulled the hood back, revealing long locks of blue hair that went down to his neck and flowed down to his mid back. He opened his red eyes and looked at the group with amusement.

"Yo. Seems like a fun little party all of you are having here. Mind if I step in for a bit?" he asked, his wording showing that he was aligned with Hakuno's group rather than Medusa Alter.

"Why are you siding with this interlopers Caster?!" Medusa Alter demanded to know. With her now having to deal with two Servants, she couldn't go on the offense without letting the other get in a hit on her since they were at optimal distances for short or long range attacks. Plus, with the Master knowing magecraft that could pierce her magic resistance, it was three sources she had to be wary of.

Caster scoffed as he looked at her. "You have to ask why? It's because it's a whole lot better than joining your side of course!" he shouted. Waving his free hand, a line of runes appeared in the air in front of him before turning into roaring fireballs that launched at Lancer with enough speed to surprise even her.

The moment they touched the chains, Caster's attack magic exploded, breaking the group free from their prison. Lancer had flipped backwards to avoid the attack while Caster stepped in front of Hakuno's group and waved them back.

"Like she said, I'm a Caster Class Servant. For reasons of my own, I consider her an enemy. While the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my ally, for the time being you can trust me." He offered.

Hakuno nodded, as he already knew who this Servant was as well…along with the fact that he was in a different class too.

_Class: Caster_

_ True Name: Cu Chuulain_

_ Weapon: Runecraft_

_ Magic…_

While the Regalia was giving him the information he needed, Caster Cu looked at Mash. "Young Lady, get back into your battle position. Skills aside, your courage at stepping up for your Master is second to none."

When he looked at Hakuno, his eyes narrowed for a slight moment. "Hmm…I feel like I should know you. You give off a nostalgic feeling, like we were once comrades in pitched battle. Not on the level of a sworn ally, but enough for me to know you're someone I'd trust with my back." He declared before looking forward at Medusa.

"Alright then. In return for such a good feeling and in consideration for the young lady over there, I'd like to enter into a temporary contract with you. That ok, kid?" he asked Hakuno.

The Last Master's response was to hold up his hand and clench his fist. "I accept your condition." He agreed and felt another massive drain on his od and prana as he felt himself feeding both Servants now that caused him to flinch slightly.

Olga Marie tried to step forward, but Zelretch placed his arm in front of her and shook his head. "This is their battle. Let them have this moment." He ordered. Despite her own opinions on the matter, the Director nodded and let the more experienced Magician handle this situation the way he wanted it to go. She subconsciously gripped Fou a little tighter, but the creature didn't mind because it was wary of everything that was going on as well.

Lancer looked at the alliance warily, but eventually accepted that her luck would either become amazing and she would get rid of many annoyances at once, or it would be bad enough that it lead to her demise. Either way, once a fight between Servants started, it was only proper to see it through to the end.

That was how the Holy Grail War worked after all. Even with her Master gone…she would still fulfill her duty. To get her wish granted…to save her, to save them!

Steeling herself, Medusa Alter prepared for what would quite possibly be her last battle.

"In the end, this means nothing. All it tells me is that this battle between us will end faster than we anticipated."

Bringing her lance up, she licked the blade in a seductive manner. "I'll rip you apart while you're still flesh and blood. This will be the only way I can sate this feeling that is growing inside of me."

She then twirled Harpe into a battle ready stance.

"Come, Caster, Servant of the Shield and their Master! I will be the one who decides your end!" she shouted.

_End of Chapter 2_

_ A/N: HOLY. WOW._

_One Week. One Week and this story has had over 1,000 views, over 80 followers and almost 60 favorites!_

_I did not expect this level of popularity from this at all! All I can say is thank you everyone for reading and liking this story! It means a lot to me and I hope I can keep pleasing all of you as Hakuno's alternate take on FGO's storyline kicks off._

_As you can already see from this chapter, waves are occurring and if you noticed there is two very important changes. One of which I will keep to myself until the end of the Singularity F Arc._

_I can guess some of you are wondering why I'm going the OVA route rather than the game route. The answer is that I'm actually doing a mixture of both. The OVA fleshed out the story a little more than the game did in introducing Bro Caster Cu, Medusa Alter and corrupted EMIYA. In the game, you were just fighting Shadow Servants. You tell me which one sounds more exciting when it comes to writing things out?_

_Now there is one thing I wish to warn you guys about. I am going to change one Singularity a LOT in terms of the Servants summoned and I will let you know in advance that it will be VERY much further into the story._

_That will be Singularity Five, the America one. Reason being, there was SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL! There were so many Servants that could have been made from American History but all we got were Billy the Kid, Edison, Nightingale and Geronimo. Almost all of which aren't even used in most peoples FGO accounts._

_So I will be replacing SOME of the Servants in that one with original Servants based off of American History. Not all, just some! No offense to anybody that liked the singularity or the Servants chosen, but I wanted to show a little bit more creativity and ingenuity in how it could have gone about. Believe you me, the payoff will be very much worth it!_

_Now, onto other questions you might have._

_I did make Hakuno a much more active Master than Ritsuka when it came to actual combat. Hakuno is a Veteran Master who has nerves of steel and a resolution that not many can surpass while retaining his humanity. As such, I tried to make things a little more interesting with him being able to use offensive spells for this chapter to support Mash's more defensive fighting style. _

_As time and chapters go on, he will switch to a more support role like in game, but what Mash needs at the moment is firepower rather than upping her attack._

_Plus, the Regalia immediately breaks down any Servants he sees into manageable chunks of data over their true name, class, weapon and skills so long as they don't have Presence Concealment or that one skill Berserker Lancelot has, Protection of the Faeries I think it was. That was how he knew that if he charged up a spell, he could pierce Medusa Alter's Magic Resistance with his spell since her chains would still conduct electricity._

_As for Medusa Alter and Cu having those familiar feelings about Hakuno upon seeing him…well it's actually explained in several of the event quests on such a thing happening._

_I think that covers all but one last matter. One that YOU all can help me with._

_I plan on getting a cover image for this story proper. What YOU all will decide is which Singularity will the cover image reflect? You can choose any single one! Just leave your choice in a review while at least also making sure to give an opinion on why you chose that Singularity. Just do not leave a flame and a choice in the same review; that is bad civilization and manners!_

_Omake: Other things Hakuno could have said to Mash's Outfit Change_

"Mash, why do you look like a stripper?"

"Mash, why are you using a rip-off version of Wolfwood's weapon from Trigun?"

"Mash, how can you fight in those heels without tripping over yourself every ten feet?"

"Mash, do the words 'exposed weak point' mean anything to you?"

"Mash, why did you think I was into belly-buttons?"

"Mash…why don't we have guns or weapons in Chaldea that we can use?"

"Mash, can I see your magical girl transformation? I missed the first one."


	3. Chapter 3: Hard Truths

Extella Grand Order

Chapter 3: Hard Truths

_A/N: Just letting you guys know, an uncomfortable scene will be broached in this chapter, due to how the Matou magecraft works. If you're not comfortable with the…Sakura scenes from Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero involving that, then please skip the section noted further down the chapter._

For as long as she could remember, Olga Marie Animusphere was told that the family motto had been to make the most out of whatever situation they would find themselves in. Regardless of enemy, time, place or magic involved, they would find some way to turn things towards their advantage in some form or measure. As the head and last generation of Animusphere so far, she felt like she had been far from that mark her predecessors had laid out for her.

Watching Hakuno Kishinami, Mash and the mysterious Caster going up against Medusa of all things, she was powerless to help. She had some knowledge of runes, knew how to cast Gandr and even some knowledge of Mystic Code workings but none of it was of any use. Even before this, she was helpless as the Wizard Marshal was forced to grab hold of her and shield her from the sudden explosion that came from beneath her feet, which killed almost the entire chain of command in Chaldea. The home of her father and the world's hopes and dreams of humanity remaining strong was crumbling underneath her and she could do nothing about it.

"I can see why you chose a mercenary like him." She said to Zelretch, holding Fou in her arms as a safety blanket of sorts while all three of them watched as Caster used his own runecraft to throw fireballs at Medusa, who gracefully weaved and bobbed through them before trying to assassinate Hakuno. Her thrust of Harpe was blocked by Mash's shield, however and she was forced back by Caster's magic, some of which did hit her with small explosions that followed those hits, before the cycle started again.

Zelretch broke his concentrated viewing of the fight to spare her a sidelong glance. "Mercenary? Kishinami? That's a good joke." He stated with a chuckle.

This left Olga Marie rather clueless…again. It was a feeling she was uncomfortably becoming more and more intimate with these last few hours she had been here. "He has the knowledge of magecraft and he has all of those scars though." She pointed out.

THAT got a reaction out of the Dead Apostle as he whipped his head towards Hakuno and closely observed him. "That should be impossible…but…ah, it was her." He muttered to himself as he rubbed his beard while thinking.

"Er…her who, Wizard Marshal?" Olga Marie asked, wincing as Mash and Hakuno were violently slammed into one another by Medusa kicking the former hard as a springboard to attack Caster. The Mage Servant responded by simply teleporting behind the fallen duo as they scrambled to get back up while providing covering fire with more fireball based runecraft.

He waved off her question literally with a simple gesture of his hand. "Someone very complicated that is Kishinami's headache to deal with rather than my own…normally. However, she saw fit to step into MY realm, while I was using it, to do something with the boy. THIS…means WAR." He said before devolving into a series of evil cackles that had Olga Marie and Fou warily staring at the ancient Magician while taking a large step backwards.

_On the Battlefield_

Hakuno grimaced as he watched Mash take another scratch from Harpe's hook being pulled back due to her shield weighing her down too much. Normally having two Servants working to take out another would be a cakewalk, but he was far too used to having multiple Servants trying to take down one of his own and the singular Servant turning things around. It was annoying to be on the other side of that sort of situation.

"Mash, use that skill of yours again! You're taking too much damage and she'll bleed you out!" he ordered as Medusa Alter attempted another attack on Caster Cu, who once again easily sidestepped it, much to the Rouge Servant's annoyance.

Mash quickly nodded and slammed the longest edge of her cross-shield into the ground. "Wall of Snowflakes!" she cried out, letting the defensive skill wash over her and grant her additional defense once more.

This time, Caster Cu was able to feel it and grinned. "Oh ho. This is quite the upgrade." He commented as he broke his usual routine and rushed at Medusa Alter. She stumbled somewhat from her previous failed attack and this allowed him to slam the side of her head with his staff, enchanted to be much, MUCH more powerful than it looked. It hit her with the same force as a wrecking ball, even as Caster took a nasty kick to the stomach that Mash's skill deflected most of the damage from, causing her to fly back before pitifully rolling onto the ground.

Right on top of a rune Caster had placed on there earlier during their game of cat and mouse.

"This is the end!" he shouted as he activated it, causing a large pillar of fire to erupt right on top of her.

If that was not enough, Caster decided to go with a bit of overkill and sent one final barrage of runecraft made fireballs at the already burning Servant which exploded upon touching her.

Hakuno had to place his hands over his ears at the loud screams of pain and agony that the Servant was going through, even as Mash took another defensive position in front of him in case of a last ditch effort attack.

Mercifully it was over after a few seconds. The flames were snuffed and Medusa Alter laid on her back, defeated.

"Sorry Lancer, but it had to be done." Caster Cu told her candidly.

Medusa Alter snorted in amusement, even as she began to glow in a golden light, bits and pieces of her flickering in and out of existence. "This is the fate of all Servants. I am ashamed I lost, but this is how it has always been for someone like me. Even back on the island, where Perseus slew me. I am the villain, the one who opposes me a hero."

At this point Mash and Hakuno came to look at the vanishing Servant, who gave the Master a look of longing. "Ah…there is that feeling again. The feeling that I should know you, that I care about you and yet I do not know you in the slightest. At the very least, in this story, my end isn't alone amongst the sea of statues I created for myself."

The three of them said nothing, respecting her enough to let her speak her final words as the last bits of her began to disappear.

"I'm so sorry…Sa…ku….ra…."

When that name was spoken, Hakuno stiffened considerably for a moment. His fingers dug deep into his skin and he let the moment pass before reminding himself that even with the same name, it was not the same person.

His Sakura was long gone and there was nothing he could do to bring her back.

With that, the battle was over and Olga Marie rushed over to them while Zelretch walked in slow, measured steps and was even clapping his hands in amusement.

"Good job Kishinami, Mash and Caster. This is one less obstacle in the way of finding the root of the problem." The Director complimented the rag-tag group.

"Indeed. I would have finished her off faster, but it would have been far more costly as well. Collateral damage and whatnot is messy stuff." Zelretch added.

Hakuno sighed slightly before he lost his balance when trying to step forward. The adrenaline rush from earlier had wore off, causing Mash to carefully wrap her arms around him and keep him upright. He gave her a grateful look before staring at Zelretch.

"How did you end up in a fight with her?" he asked, stating the question that was on Olga Marie's mind earlier.

"Well, when I first came to in this place I realized I knew the area, so I took a little stroll to check something I was curious about. Imagine my surprise when I got too close to one of the houses of the Magi that had formerly lived here, the Servant burst out and attacked me on the spot. I took offense to her trying to kill me so I annoyed her by running all over the place and throwing explosions at her." Zelretch explained.

Caster Cu roared in laughter while Hakuno looked at him with exasperation written all over his face. Mash and Olga Marie could only stare at the Wizard Marshal, dumbfounded at how he could so casually mention that he just happened upon a Servant and fought it in self-defense. Fou at this point was asleep in Olga Marie's arms, ignoring all of them.

"Now that story time is over, let's get across the bridge. I want to continue my investigation." He stated.

Olga Marie hesitantly stepped forward. "Were you investigating the Singularity too?" she asked.

Zelretch looked down at her and gave her a mysterious looking half-smile. "Not entirely, but it is related. I was looking into how all seven Masters vanished the exact instant the fires started.

Caster Cu's laughter was immediately cut off at those words, his face becoming stone cold serious. "Oi. That's no lie is it old man? Tread carefully, cause I've been wondering too and if you try yanking me around on a goose chase Contract or no Contract I will blast your ass to the Land of Shadows." He demanded to know.

"It is no lie Cu Chulainn. No matter which Master you have, your loyalty always remains it seems." Zelretch said in an almost fond tone, as if remembering something before looking at the group.

"Now then. I've been sensing dimensional anomalies all over the Residential District portion of Fuyuki. Specifically this is where all the Master's vanished. Most in their homes, some mid-way to a destination. The question we should be asking now is this; "_What correlation is there between the Master's vanishing and the Singularity appearing?"_

It was a very good question and one nobody could answer, even Caster Cu couldn't give a straight answer.

"All I remember was that we were discussing strategy. Next moment, no master. The moment after, fire and brimstone. I thought that was the end but somehow I'm still here, so I'm still fighting. I can tell you that if you want to get to the bottom of this, you'll have to beat the Saber of this Holy Grail War."

Already the wheels in Olga Marie's head were spinning. "Saber is considered normally the strongest Servant in the seven classes. It would make sense that if you want to do something to a Holy Grail War, you go after the Saber first."

Caster let out a sigh that spoke of long suffering. "Yeah, that girl is a pain in the ass. I don't know what happened, but she went under a major change. She killed Rider, Berserker and Assassin, corrupted Archer, she was midway through doing the same to Lancer when Assassin had struck and was killed so she got away. I wasn't in the area at the time she went on that rampage and then she did something that brought Berserker back as nothing more than a demented hellhound that causes lots of destruction." He recalled.

"Do you know who she is!? Please tell me if you do!" Olga Marie demanded. A Servant's true name was their greatest secret. If given or deduced, one could make plans around them because they always had some sort of weakness that had led to their death.

Caster shook his head. "Sorry Missy. I can tell you this though. Her sword went from Holy to Unholy. I won't forget that black light anytime soon. It swallowed Berserker up in an instant."

A small shiver ran through almost all of their spines. Berserker's were well known for their endurance. If something Saber did ripped through it like wet tissue paper, then they had a big problem.

"Does Saber actively hunt you down, or is she in one place?" Hakuno asked next.

Caster's answer was quick. "Not anymore. After Assassin struck her and hurt her somewhat, she's resting up. Archer is on stand-by as her watch dog. Berserker is around the area, but never in one place." As he said this, he pointed upwards, towards the massive forests behind Fuyuki that were seemingly untouched by the fires. In the middle of it was an open cavern where a black, red and purple light seeped out.

"She's in there."

Hakuno nodded. "Alright. Since she's not going to be a threat until we enter the forest, we should set up another base camp nearby and let Dr. Romani know we found Zelretch and request a few more supplies. My od and prana are running low." He suggested.

The Chaldea Director frowned slightly when she heard that. "That's true, the last thing we want is for you to be dead on your feet during this investigation and our only real defense would be gone because of it. Also, it seems like since this Singularity is revolving around Saber, we won't be able to just investigate. We will have to force our way through and end it then and there. We have to at least let him know of the change in plans." She agreed.

Caster Cu grinned. "I like your style Missy. If only you had the potential to become a Master I would've asked you for a contract." He complimented.

Olga Marie pointedly ignored the Servant, but blushed nonetheless at the compliment. "Let's get going."

Everyone could agree with that and they slowly set off towards the bridge.

_Fuyuki Bridge_

_Halfway Mark_

The fog that had encompassed the Residential District also stretched to the bridge, making it hard to see anything that wasn't a few feet in front of them. With what little they could see, there was nothing more than a car graveyard as wreckage was everywhere from all the crashes that had happened. It hampered their progress greatly and what should have been a half-hour walk was talking double the time to just get halfway across.

A single upside to all of this was that Caster Cu could use his runecraft to create a light source to direct them towards a safe route across and not fall into the worryingly large amount of holes across the bridge that would have killed them via plunging into the boiling hot ocean underneath them.

It was only halfway through that Caster raised his hand to stop all of them. Fou's ears flickered and he also began to look around, switching from Olga Marie's arms into Hakuno's almost as if seeking a better vantage point. "Fou?" he called out.

"What is it Fou?" Mash asked, wondering what the creature had sensed.

"It's Archer. He's noticed us." Caster explained before snapping his head towards to the side where the cavern was. "INCOMING!"

Mash responded automatically to those words, her body acting well before her mind did and placing her shield down in front of Hakuno and Olga Marie. "Everyone behind me!" she shouted.

Several seconds later a red light was seen streaking through the fog and slamming right into her shield, followed by a second and third. Then an entire score of arrows rained down on them.

Hakuno looked around at how the arrows weren't really hitting anyone despite being so close to one another and then he realized what the intent of the Archer was when he saw the holes around them getting large enough that the cars were falling off.

"We have to get off the bridge! NOW! He's trying to destroy it!" he screamed to the others over the sound of the arrows going through steel and concrete.

Caster quickly summoned several blue runes that intercepted some of the arrows and re-directed them away from everyone as they hustled as quickly as they could, no longer caring what was in front of them.

By now, the sound of the groaning, screeching metal and crumbling concrete became distressingly clear.

"We're not fast enough!" Olga Marie cried out as the destruction was quickly catching up to the humans before crying out in surprise as Caster Cu tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Hakuno was being carried by Mash piggyback style with Fou clutched tightly in his hands while Zelretch was easily keeping pace as the Servants ran as fast as their agility allowed them, laughing all the way.

Archer had attempted to take a few more pot-shots at them as they finally crossed the bridge proper, but Mash deflected them easily as the fog wasn't nearly as thick where they were. After thirty seconds of silence, the group breathed easy while hearing the sounds of the bridge finally giving up the ghost behind them and crumbling into the ocean completely.

"Now that this is over, UNHAND ME YOU BRUTE! I-YOU DID NOT JUST FONDLE MY ASS!" Olga Marie began to shout at Caster before punching him in the face, his defenses be damned as he felt his hand cup her butt and squeezed it.

Cu Chulainn only laughed as he let her go and the Director quickly hid behind Mash and Hakuno as if using them like human shields.

"CAD! PERVERT! BEAST!" She screamed.

Hakuno could only shake his head at the antics happening in front of him. _'It's days like these that make me wish I just locked myself in with Jinako and played video games with her until BB gave up and left us all alone.' _He thought to himself, remembering the hacker fondly despite her trying to kill him if only for self-preservation due to BB's threats. That felt like it had been years ago, rather than just several months.

After Olga Marie had vented all of her anger, Zelretch pointed up towards various houses in the Residential District. "We need to go to those three houses first. The Masters of Saber, Archer and Lancer were all there and the dimensional anomalies are strongest. If we're lucky it will have left behind what is known as an 'echo'. Strong feelings left behind that we can view using my Kaleidoscope as it is self-powering rather than me having to access a parallel dimension." He explained to all of them.

"That's more than fine Wizard Marshal. Anything that will help us understand the Singularity is worth taking some time to view. Will there also be a place we can set down for a base camp among those houses?" Mash asked.

It was a good question that Zelretch stroked his beard thinking about. "I wouldn't want to really risk it. At the very least, Archer won't take too kindly to us poking around his old Masters place so that will have to be quick. Sabers might be fine, but Archer might also feel like we're attacking as well. Lancer…the less said about the Matou's and their magic, the better. So let's just find a nearby apartment complex or something and settle in the lobby."

That was all the rest of them needed to hear as they walked through the quiet streets. Not even the Skeletal Soldiers came to bother them. Eventually they found a housing complex that didn't have a front entrance caved in or looked like it was seconds away from collapsing. Upon entering the lobby, Caster immediately began to cast a set of protective runes around the place to protect and hide them temporarily from Archer or Berserker if they were looking for them.

Mash had set her shield down to use as a reverse summoning tool while Olga Marie contacted the Command Center again. As they did this Zelretch pulled Hakuno and Fou aside to speak to the Master with some semblance of privacy while Caster looked over the others.

"Olga Marie told me something rather disturbing that I think we should correct now if it is at all possible." The Wizard Marshal started off with.

Hakuno was rather worried about more bad news being dumped on top of him above everything that has already been happening so far. "What else do we have to worry about?" he hesitantly asked.

Zelretch pointed right at Hakuno himself. "While you were being transported through my dimensional portal, when the both of us were occupied with the shift, someone else reached out and decided to have a bit of fun with you."

Hakuno's eyes widened as far as they could before he lifted up the Mystic Code uniform and noticed for the first time the marks on him. "Oh shit…viral coding…" he muttered.

As a digital being, a rule of thumb is that unless you are being deleted by the Grail itself, your digital body would always be restored to what it was when you first entered given enough time or a healing Mystic Code. Hakuno had no kind of scars or marks on him, despite the constant abuse he had suffered in the Moon Cell on his adventures as proof of that.

The only thing that could actually affect a digital body was the same thing that would attack any computer; A virus. To actually overcome the security of the Moon Cell itself, however…there was only one person Hakuno knew who could do such a thing.

"BB…Sakura…." He whispered, old wounds that had been marked on his very soul aching at remembering the torture that her 'Alter-Ego' selves had placed on him. It had not been a pleasant time for him.

The Regalia began to give off a faint glow as he willed it to perform an anti-virus cleansing. It would take a while, but as he did a quick scan of himself for abnormalities he noticed that for a virus, it was…rather weak. It didn't attempt to corrupt his soul or rewrite his personality or anything he was expecting of her.

That was until he figured out why she had to place so many lines of viral codes on his digital body that it made scars onto his real one until now.

"Zelretch…this viral code is a homing beacon. She literally tracked us as we hopped from my dimension to this one." Hakuno grimly informed the Wizard.

"How clever. She knew something bigger than that would attract my attention, even with my power waning as is. So she decided to play the long game instead." Zelretch reluctantly praised the psychotic yandere AI.

"Will we be able to do stop her?" It was a very legitimate question. It took Hakuno and all of his friends to stop BB the first time around before he struck the final blow with his Servant. This time they were on a different playing ground and while he had grown stronger, so had she and BB was nothing if not devious.

"That she has not tried anything yet means that either she cannot or will not try something right now. Even she must know that with history being incinerated, if she tries she will most likely die." Zelretch theorized.

Hakuno rubbed one arm with worry even as Fou cuddled into him to provide a measure of comfort.

"Let's go back. I'm sure the others have already gotten contact with Chaldea."

As they rounded the corner they had gone to, they had indeed noticed Dr. Roman's 3D image speaking to Mash and Olga Marie before they pointed them out.

"Ah! Wizard Marshal, thank goodness. I knew it would take a lot to kill you but even then seeing you with my own eyes is better than secondhand word of mouth." The Doctor told him, bringing a grin onto Zelretch's face.

"Indeed. If Type-Moon couldn't kill me, this certainly will not. Though I must admit with everything gone topsy-turvy, my control over the Kaleidoscope has been rather…touch and go, you might say. This has been causing a large blockage that makes it hard to grasp it like I normally do. Still, Romani, thanks for the concern. Not many think of me in such a way. Most are just scared."

It was a rather roundabout way of saying 'thank you', but receiving any sort of praise from Zelretch was enough to make an ordinary person joy.

"We gave an update while you two were discussing your business and Romani has informed us he sent a team of ten non-essential personnel outside to try and re-establish communications in the meantime. He also sent us a few more snacks to help restore your prana. It won't be much, but it will have to do." Olga Marie updated the pair.

Hakuno wearily nodded and thanked Mash as she handed him a few ration bars that he began to eat immediately. It wasn't much and it tasted bland as heck, but with his prana levels were sitting at about forty-five percent at the moment after the scuffle with Lancer, empowering Caster to become his temporary Servant and subtly using his Mystic Code to heal Mash whenever she took hits from Lancer without the other Servant noticing he needed this boost.

"Now then, despite the protests Doctor, along with my own misgivings over this, we are now out of options. If the source of the Singularity is Saber, then with Kishinami taking over as the temporary Master of Caster, he is obligated to fight until they've won or died. If they die, we might as well already be dead so there's nothing else we can conceivably do with how things are." She stated as easily as she would speak of the weather despite such a dark subject.

"Yes. With the Wizard Marshal sensing dimensional anomalies as well according to the Director's report as well, that will give us a unique chance to possibly figure out the exact point and date of Singularities becoming what they are. So it's an avenue that despite being extremely dangerous, you'll have to take the chance." Dr. Romani agreed.

Everyone in the room had a look of grim acceptance save Fou, who just continued to rest in Hakuno's arms.

"Alright. My medical advice would be to take a break for a few hours, but you might not have that much time, so be careful. This is the Chaldea Command Room, signing off." Dr. Roman stated before the view was cut.

"As it is, we'll take a half hour break. The two adrenaline rush moments require us to at least get some rest or else me and Kishinami are liable to collapsing." Olga Marie ordered.

Nobody had anything to say against it and they each began to do their own thing. Olga Marie and Mash started talking about their time at Chaldea, Zelretch grabbed a book that had somehow survived the fire and began to read while munching on a few ration bars himself and Hakuno set Fou down on a sofa so the creature could get some undisturbed sleep.

With the anti-virus running through him, Hakuno was grateful that they had this break because if he had to keep stopping it for fights he did not know what would happen but his prana would run out pretty quick. Unfortunately, it also meant that until the entire run was finished, he could no longer use it for anything else.

As Caster idly looked out a window, an idea popped into the Master's head for how everyone might survive longer.

"_Hey Caster_." He called out telepathically, his Command Seals acting as a two-way bond between them.

_"Yeah?"_ The Irish servant drawled.

_"When you cast runes onto objects, they last even after the user has passed until its job is done or magic has gone away, right?" _Hakuno asked.

This got the Servant's eyebrow to go up slightly. _"Yeah. Why, you have a request or something?"_

_"…Or something, yes."_

_ "I'm listening…"_

Hakuno discussed the idea in his mind with Caster, who looked at him directly now with a degree of respect that wasn't there previously.

_"My Master would have enjoyed having you as a student, despite being average." _Caster stated, bemused by the idea.

_"Yeah…she said the same thing." _Hakuno idly thought, but it still went through the bond.

"_Wait what?" _Caster's eyes narrowed now at Hakuno, who knew he wouldn't be able to lie to the _'Child of Light'._

_ "It's a long story that we don't have time for. Suffice to say, I've met you as a Lancer Class and you fought her. Long story short, you won."_

This caused Caster to bark out a laugh that had the girl's heads turn towards him, but he idly waved them away with an excuse that he remembered an old folklore that he always found amusing.

_"I can't believe that my memories don't have something like that recorded into them. For me to beat Teacher…you must have been one hell of a Master. No wonder you felt so familiar."_

_ "You were an amazing Servant. I can't take all the credit for your own hard fought victory."_

_ "Hah! For that I'll do it. You have the stuff needed?"_

Hakuno held up the emergency sewing kit and Caster grinned slightly.

"Olga Marie, since Caster can weave runes into clothing and other objects, I'm asking him to fix my Mystic Code that got some damage during the fight with Lancer and give it a slight upgrade. I also asked if he can do the same for your coat. Is that alright?" Hakuno asked.

The Director didn't have to think twice before handing over her coat. "Anything that will help us survive in the long run is worth doing." She responded.

Hakuno gave her a warm smile that made her face go cherry red before making an excuse to get back to her conversation with Mash, who was amused by the entire thing while he saw Zelretch giving a large grin before getting back to his book.

After handing Caster both articles of clothing Hakuno, now with only his undershirt on top, headed to the last available seat in the lobby and collapsed atop of it before closing his eyes to get what little sleep he could before they started off again.

_?_

Normally Hakuno's dreams were fairly normal. His most often recurring one being him as a normal high school student again with his various Servants and allies as both fellow students and faculty members.

This time, he found himself waking up sitting in a chair in what seemed to be a room with no defining features to it. It was just pure white space with nothing more than two chairs, one of which he was sitting on and a table.

"Ok…this is odd." He noted as he looked to his left and right.

"_It's just a dream Senpai. One that I've hijacked for your nap maybe, but a dream nonetheless."_ A feminine voice answered, one that caused all the hairs on his body to stand on end while his blood nearly froze over.

With a single blink of his eyes, the unoccupied chair was suddenly very much occupied. The person sitting across from him had long, plum colored hair with eyes that matched in color and a red ribbon placed on both her hair and her uniform, which was based off the basic Japanese sailor fuku. A uniform which did absolutely nothing to hide the massive pair of breasts that were unashamedly sitting on the table as a tea set suddenly appeared with another blink of his eyes.

There was only one slight difference that he could see with BB and that was on the black overcoat that she wore. On her left sleeve, the symbol of the Moon Cell was emblazoned upon it.

"Why are you doing this and why do you have the symbol of a System Administrator?" he asked.

BB said nothing, instead just pouring some tea into the two cups and passing one off to Hakuno that he did not touch. While he did not entirely hate BB, he couldn't trust her.

"It's not poisoned and this is not one of my skills or Mystic Codes, Senpai. I can assure you of that." BB admonished as she took a sip of her tea.

It was obvious that she was not going to answer him until he had some, so he quickly drank it and tried to ignore the burning feeling of hot tea going down his throat.

"It seems my Senpai is still mad at his sweet little Super High School Level Kouhai." BB dejectedly responded, pulling off a wounded puppy look far too well before it vanished a second later, replaced with a beaming smile.

"That is how it should be. So don't worry. I'm not here to meddle this time. You, or a version of you, has beaten me. You are the only one I cannot bully anymore. Even though I am just a copy of the original BB, I still have all her memories and feelings, including the love that she had for you." She began to explain before taking another sip of her tea.

"So you're not the real BB?" Hakuno repeated the Copy AI's own words to make sure he wasn't mishearing things.

"Indeed I am not. Your BB, or a version of her anyways, created a miracle at the final moments. Just as how I am a copy of the original BB, you too are a copy Senpai. A copy of the copy of Senpai who beat BB and who got the AI Sakura Matou to make a miracle so that both originals could live happily on Earth." BB explained as she looked at Hakuno straight into his eyes.

"All the while you, the 'copy' of the original copied Senpai was made so that when the observed space finally stopped, the Holy Grail War could reset itself due to the error and so that this 'second copy' of Senpai who would win the Holy Moon Grail could do so without being deleted by SE. RA. PH" With the explanation finished, BB had dropped a rather reality shaking revelation with nothing more than a smile on her face as she saw his reaction to it.

It was the rather candid way of how she said that made Hakuno feel as if he had been slapped in the face. He knew that he was a copy of the original Hakuno Kishinami. He had remembered that during the Grail War he had been informed that his body was in cryopreserve until a day came that a neurological surgeon or some kind of cure came to deal with his brain disease. Though what he did NOT know was that he was, in essence, a copy of that same copy.

This entire time, he had thought with a firm belief that he was the only copy of that timeline, that original copy of Hakuno Kishinami. The Sephyr incident had informed him of all the parallel Hakuno's that had been 'lost' due to Archimedes scheme so he knew that he wasn't the technical 'only' one, even more so when Zelretch told him about the multi-verse being in danger but still, to be told that sort of information so candidly just took the wind right out of his sails.

There was so much that had gone on behind the scenes that he did not know about. Things that he thought were truth now came into doubt, did that mean that everything he had done was worthless? All the sacrifice, all the pain and heartache he had thought he had gone through were false memories implanted from the first copy?

_NO_

He would not entertain such notions. It would make the final sacrifice of the lone body of Hakuno Kishinami, who had sacrificed everything to save the woman he loved, worthless.

Even now, he could remember those few lines as they rang through his mind clearly as that body, which was about to have his experiences overwritten by the mind and soul coming back to occupy the empty vessel he had become, did his best to comfort his crying Servant.

_"And that is how I know you are wrong. Even if I am an 'Illusion' or if my life is 'borrowed', or if I am going to disappear like all these tears around us...this dream of ours is REAL. It all comes from precious memories we both experienced. Even now, while you're holding back those tears...you and I had a wish together, and no one can ever deny it."_

Taking comfort in those words, Hakuno put his self-doubt to rest. Even if he wasn't the 'real one', he still dreamed, he still experienced and most of all he had made his wish to live a life full of laughter and love with those who cared about him.

Now that he had calmed down some, he could continue on with this conversation.

"BB, you are not lying to me are you? The original AI Sakura and the original copy of 'Hakuno Kishinami' are happy on earth?" He asked as BB shot him a sad smile knowing that a part of him, the leftover of the original copy, had left an imprint of his love for Sakura Matou that this second copy could never fulfill.

"By the Crest on my coat, I cannot lie to the holder of the Regalia. Everything I said is true. You can ask the ring when you are awake. I am bound to the Moon Cell as much as you are." She confirmed.

While he could have made a snarky response to that, Hakuno felt his patience wane as it normally did when it came to the Rouge AI's antics. So he cut to the chase instead.

"What else have you come here for aside from putting me in an existential crisis?" He asked as he finally poured himself a second cup of tea and found himself calming down as he sipped it.

"To warn you. The Old Man was right; I did mess with you during your trip to the past, if only to make sure I knew where you were at all times. I wasn't the only one though." BB said with a straight face.

"Joy." Hakuno snarked.

"You really shouldn't trust strange old men Senpai. After all, some of his pranks are rather well established. Such as, giving someone the memories of parallel versions of themselves." BB chided, cheeks puffing out in frustration as he seemingly ignored what she was saying.

"…So what did he do?"

BB gave a rather wicked smile. "I'll let you figure it out for yourself. I might not be able to bully you anymore. I might love you more than the entire universe and let it burn if it meant you were safe. I might be the original Super High School Level Kouhai that accepts no substitutes nor posers when it comes to weaving delicious despair on Senpai's and other bugs around me. I am not, however, someone who will spoil everything in one go." She stated while wagging a finger at him.

If Hakuno wasn't in a dream, he had a feeling he would be having a large headache coming along right about now.

"What else BB? I know all of your tricks. You come to taunt, you come to tease…you also come when you need help." He stated firmly as he looked her straight in the eye.

"The Moon Cell…it's struggling to keep its existence in check. I'm here to warn you that things are still happening. Time did not just magically stop over there when you jumped to the past. I was created as a stop-gap measure." BB explained.

If Hakuno's blood felt like it froze over earlier, it was more like liquid nitrogen now. "Are they safe?"

BB nodded. "For now. I estimate that even with the Moon Cell's resources you have about a year Senpai. One year to fix this or else the Moon Cell and the final piece of history left in this universe that was untouched will finally be incinerated."

It took all of his vaunted mental fortitude for Hakuno to not collapse at the time limit he was being told was placed on him. "We don't even know where to start with all of this, much less where it ends."

BB set her tea cup down before walking around the table and hugging Hakuno from behind. Her 'assests' were squished against the back of his head while she did this on purpose.

"You'll figure it out Senpai. You're the Last Master for a reason. You don't back down in the face of death. You solve mysteries that were supposed to remain unsolved. You conquered beings that were never supposed to be beaten. I think something like this is par the course." She encouraged.

"Yeah. Somehow it always comes down to me. I should be tired of all this, but I can't bring myself to just give up." He agreed, ignoring the pleasant sensation being pressed up behind him.

"That is why the original, the copy…and even I all love you. It's why all those girls fall for you. You are a hero in all but title and everyone loves a hero." BB agreed.

Before Hakuno could respond, he felt his vision beginning to go fuzzy, almost as if static was filling everything around him.

"Oh phooey. Looks like it's time for you to wake up. Well, before you go…"

Before he blacked out, the last thing he saw was BB floating above him before coming down and claiming his lips with her own, a passionate lip lock.

"Now you won't forget me even in your other dreams!" she cackled after breaking the kiss. Hakuno felt his lips turn up a tiny smile as he finally surrendered to the darkness.

_Fuyuki City_

"Senpai…Senpai. It's time to wake up." Mash gently whispered as she shook Hakuno awake.

He jolted upwards in response. "Wha...has it already been half an hour?" he muttered, feeling even more tired than before he went to sleep after having both a verbal spar with BB and being told a lot of things that he would have to think over once he had some privacy.

Mash nodded. "Yes. While you were asleep, Caster finished the changes to the Mystic Codes of yourself and the Director as requested and the Director herself showed that she knew basic runecraft by etching them onto small stones she had picked up."

Hakuno wearily nodded and forced himself up. Caster gave a small nod towards him and handed him the repaired Mystic Code…with a small addition. Etched onto it were several runes that would invoke protections against magic that meant to harm the one wearing the Mystic Code. It wasn't a foolproof thing and it would suck out Prana from the user, but it would keep them alive longer and that's all that mattered.

Slipping it back on, he noticed it was just them three and Fou still in the building. The fluffy white creature had settled into his lap during his nap and was now looking up at him with some hint of concern in its eye.

"I'll be fine Fou. Thank you." He told the creature, patting its head gently before picking it up and carrying it out with him and his Servants. Outside, Olga Marie was patiently waiting alongside Zelretch.

"We've decided the first place to go will be the Matou Manor. Sakura Matou, according to Zelretch, was the master of Lancer and it is where one of the dimensional anomalies was located. It is also the least likely place for Archer to be offended by us entering." The Director told Hakuno immediately after she saw him.

Hakuno just nodded, noting that her coat now sported the same defensive runes on it.

"Right then, let us be off!" Zelretch announced with a smile on his face that sent shivers down everyone else's spine.

_Fuyuki City_

_Residential District – Matou Estate_

"Ah…the Matou estate. Home to Sakura Matou, Shinji Matou and Zouken Matou." Zelretch stated as he saw the house…or rather what was left of it. Like all other buildings, several signs of wear and tear were seen across it, along with some extensive battle damage. No doubt some of it was from Zelretch's initial run-in with Lancer, but some of the damage looked older as well.

It had no doubt once been rather impressive to look at, but when Hakuno laid his eyes on it, he could tell that this place was wretched. A stain upon Gaia that needed to be put down. He had no idea why, but his entire being just felt as if something was _wrong_ with this house.

"Mash, Ms. Animusphere, I request that you remain outside for this. I've seen the Matou's magic and it is…not pleasant, even for me. Those whose hearts cannot be steeled should not enter. Even those with steeled hearts might find this too much." The Marshal advised.

Olga Marie normally would have argued, but she too could see and feel the wrongness that permeated from everything around that mansion and said nothing in return.

Mash looked uncomfortable not being by Hakuno's side, but a nod of reassurance from him had her instead feeling full of determination as she stood protectively next to the Director. He also left Fou in their hands just in case he needed them free for whatever reason.

The front entrance was blown outwards, so they got in with no issue. Despite the already dark environment that everyone had gotten used to, the second they stepped inside the manor proper, the trio felt almost all light getting sucked away by the evil that permeated its walls. It was as if the whole property no longer cared about holding up a façade for what it truly was.

As if things were not tense enough, even Caster found himself looking and holding out all of his senses with how dark everything had gotten. The small runelight he had made earlier was casted once more, but even that was dimmed down in comparison to the shining beacon that it was earlier.

Only Zelretch was the picture perfect definition of calm and composed, easily walking through the place as if he had done it a million times. Leading them down several hallways they eventually stopped at a door that, from what little Hakuno could make out, seemed to be holding a stairway after it was opened.

As the trio stepped downstairs to the basement level, the dimensional anomaly became very clear to them. It was quite literally a swirling mass of energy that warped space all around the area, which seemed empty but Hakuno had a rather nagging feeling that it was not.

He gave a sidelong look to Caster, who gave a tilt of his head in acknowledgement before twitching his fingers. The mere gesture was enough for a few runes of protection against evil intent to hover over them for the time being. The Master could not rely on the Regalia at this point with it being solely dedicated to eradicating the viral lines of code on his body to free him from BB's tracking signals.

Once they were at the bottom, Zelretch held out his hand towards the anomaly. It seemed to twist and turn as he moved said hand in a few directions. Then the ancient magician narrowed his eyes and _yanked_ his arm back, taking the entire anomaly into his being.

As he did, a bright light filled the area. Bright enough to force all three of them to close their eyes.

When they could open them, Hakuno sorely wished that he had not.

For now, all three of them were in the basement again, but this time it was full of wiggling, slimy worms that seemed to take up all the space that they were in. That was when he noticed that his feet seemed to phase straight through the wriggling creatures.

"I absorbed the anomaly and in doing so, we're seeing the last moments that happened before it came to be." Zelretch explained as he strode forward without worry.

"Ugh…this sort of stuff is foul. Teacher would have a field day messing whoever did this up before dragging their ass to the Land of Shadows." Caster colorfully commented.

"Guys…what's that in front of us?" Hakuno asked, pointing ahead to what seemed to be an almost bloated balloon of the worm like creatures.

"The Matou magecraft at work." Zelretch explained with hardened eyes, finding no joy or mirth in what he was seeing in front of him.

Eventually the ballooning bubble of worms stopped expanding before it suddenly just…collapsed. It was when it did that Hakuno found himself biting his lip to prevent a scream of anger from coming out of his mouth.

_(A/N: This is the uncomfortable section. Skip if you wish.)_

In the center of that…thing…was Sakura.

It was not his Sakura though. His Sakura, even as an AI, had eyes full of warmth and care. Shy, but with a smile always readily available if he had asked for it.

BB and her Alteregos all had the spark of life and emotion in them as well, being off-shoots of the original Sakura AI's emotions. Love, Passion, Hate and more. You could guarantee that they could all feel something because their primary emotion was what they were fueled by.

This Sakura was naked as the day she was born, floating in the air for a moment before landing in the sea of worms crawling across the floor, which wasted no time crawling over her…_violating her_ with reckless abandon. They left almost nothing untouched, leaving only her face able to be seen by anyone that came down to watch. He wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn't. Not when she was suffering…not when she was looking at him, no, through him with those _cold, unfeeling eyes._

If there had been any sort of emotion closely related to joy or happiness that was left inside of her, it must have died a swift death as she took the pain of such a…such a _thing_ without blinking. This scene playing out was enough to drive any sane person mad with fear and absolute, soul-wrenching terror.

So focused on her, that he almost missed the sound of wood hitting stone. Managing to tear his eyes off that terror inducing sight, he noticed what seemed to be a rather diminutive old man coming down the steps. He was completely bald, but it was his eyes…or rather what seemed to be a lack of them in this pit that showed this man had no feelings nor remorse for what was happening in front of him.

_"Sakura." _The old man rasped, his voice scratchy yet powerful as it seemed to echo throughout the whole room.

_"It seems like giving Lancer to Shinji might have been a good idea. Already she is gaining strength as he has her feeding on the drunk and homeless through the city. Soon enough we can strike and it is all thanks to you."_ He cackled.

Sakura didn't even twitch as Zouken spoke.

"_It seems like you're not such a failure after all. The corrupted vessel is almost complete and even now Shinji and Lancer are confronting the Master of Saber and Archer. I do believe they are Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka." _He said with disinterest, but a closer look revealed the toothless grin of a madman as Sakura's eyes gained some semblance of life to them when those names were mentioned.

_"Senpai…Nee-san…"_ she wheezed before struggling. The worms would not let her do that. Instead she was forced back down as the creatures violated her again, but much rougher if the wince of pain on her face was any indication.

_ "Ah yes. One was your crush and the Tohsaka was your blood sister before they threw you to me." _Zouken walked all the way down the steps and the worms parted like the red sea with each step taken, unwilling to harm their master even if just slightly.

_"A shame that they will die, but that is how the Holy Grail War works. Everyone that is not your ally is your enemy. Shinji has held a grudge against both of them regardless for different reasons and he'll make sure Lancer gets her pound of flesh, literally or figuratively."_

As he continued to mentally torture Sakura while she was in the middle of being physically and sexually tortured, neither noticed a small golden light appearing from underneath the plum haired girl.

_(A/N: Uncomfortable section over)_

The three men in the present could definitely see the slowly growing light as it began to slowly cover her like an outline.

It took a full minute for Zouken to notice it and when he did, he snarled as he could feel the familiars that were in Sakura's body become purified all at once and were then destroyed in short order.

_"What are you doing?!" _he had roared in a voice that did not belong to a man of his age. It sounded much lower…almost demonic in a way as it echoed throughout the room.

The golden light soon engulfed Sakura, who looked at this new turn of events with surprise in her eyes as her body was magically lifted back into the air. Clearly she did not know what was happening either. Though that changed in an instant when her breathing hitched and she slumped forward slightly before looking back up, staring at Zouken with nothing but disdain clear over her face.

Then she spoke and all of them knew that the voice which came out did not belong to the girl that had spoken not too long ago.

_"Deplorable, miserable and pathetic little worm. To see such a maiden sullied by methods most unclean. I am greatly displeased by this."_ The words spoken were in a slightly lower pitch, making her sound older than she was. Though there was an elegance in how she spoke that even when she spewed insults, you wanted to pay attention.

_"What have you done?! A decade of work, undone in an instant! HOW DARE YOU!" _Zouken shouted in a rage as the worms and now hornets began to buzz all over the room, ready to crush Sakura to death regardless of the fact that she was currently being possessed by something.

_"I am a higher being MORTAL. You'd best remember that." _The possessed Sakura answered before snapping her fingers. Instantly, a blinding light followed by the crackling of lightning and thunder were heard. Hakuno and his two companions had to close their eyes for a moment, but when they opened them they saw all the bugs were dead, fried to a crisp with sparks of electricity sparking between them.

Zouken was sadly unharmed, a wall of insects taking the blow for him as he scowled at the possessed Sakura.

_"Consider this an eviction notice. This vessel will be put to greater use in the coming days than what you could ever do. Should you attempt to stop me, I will erase you down to your black, rotted soul to be judged before my Pantheon." _The golden light got brighter for a moment before Hakuno noticed that the plum haired girl was now dressed in what seemed to be traditional Indian garments for women.

With a final snap of her fingers, a bubble of golden light enveloped Sakura before popping, showing that she was gone.

There was no time for Zouken to even rage before a second later, a dark hellfire swept across the room, turning the bugs corpses to ash. That was when the anomaly ended and Hakuno found himself nearly buckling over in horror and disgust over what he witnessed.

"Ugh…how…how can someone DO something like that?!" he asked no one, only venting his pent up aggression by nearly shouting it aloud.

"_She was my property. I could do with her as I wish."_

All three men turned around, seeing from the shadows, a heavily burned and scarred Zouken Matou inching towards them. Half of his body had been incinerated, leaving his worms to take over and making him look like a slimy, wriggling chimera project gone wrong.

"Zouken Matou…I suppose it was too much to ask that you stay dead for once." Zelretch deadpanned as he stepped forward. For once, there was no humor, no jesting in his voice. This was Zelretch as serious as serious could be.

"Ah, the mighty Zelretch. It seems like for once your all-seeing, all-knowing observations failed you. I see you've brought an offering as well." Zouken wheezed with what was supposed to be laughter, but the noise was more akin to nails on a chalkboard.

"My assistance to the original three families ended at the original Tohsaka line." Zelretch reminded the now inhuman old man.

"So you say, but I know that the girl intrigues you. She has the most potential in that line since the conception of the Grail War." Zouken accused.

"They both did, but they are gone now. All of them are. I'm only here to see what happened and I got one answer at the very least." Zelretch countered.

"Yes…Fuyuki City seems destined to always be bathed in fire it seems. Both ten years ago and just a small while back. I should have died. I AM dead, but not. I can see and feel for the first time in over a hundred years in how my supposed cheat of death was folly." Zouken said more to himself than to them.

The entire time the older men spoke, Hakuno and Caster remained silent. This was not their time to speak…not when they could see all of Zouken's remaining familiars attempting to sneak up around them and trap them the moment he mentioned Hakuno being a sacrifice.

"Yet I can still do it one more time. You and the Servant may be out of my reach Zelretch, but all I need is one touch of the boy and I will live again!"

With that declaration, all the worms and bugs swarmed towards Hakuno alone.

"Caster…" he said in a calm tone of voice, unafraid as he looked at the mass of polluted flesh that had once been one of the original three Magi who invented the Holy Grail War so long ago.

_Outside the Matou Manor_

It had been a good twenty minutes since Hakuno, Zelretch and Caster had gone into the manor and they had yet to come out. Olga Marie was walking in circles and was near ready to make a groove into the lawn from her pacing as Mash faithfully stood guard next to her, Fou resting on her shoulder for the time being.

"I should have gone with them. Damnit I'm an Animusphere, I'm supposed to make the best of everything! Yet one word from the Wizard Marshal and looking at this house had me quaking in my boots like I was little girl again." The Director ranted and raved.

At this point, Mash had mostly tuned her out. She had done so once Olga Marie began to repeat herself over and over again for the first five minutes. It let her take stock of her surroundings, which ended up proving to be a boon as she felt the ground begin to shake slightly.

Taking it as a sign of an enemy attack, she quickly grabbed Olga Marie and jumped towards the entrance, ignoring the rather undignified shriek that came from the older girl. The moment she had the Director's back to the brick gate, Mash stood ready, holding out her shield in front of them both.

Olga Marie seemed ready to rip into Mash for what she had done, but it quickly got caught in her throat when the Manor suddenly exploded into flames.

It was so quick, consuming all that got in its way. The glass windows that had not broken the first time around shattered instantly. All doors were busted off of their hinges, gouts of fire burned holes in the roof and to top it all off, a large explosion soon followed everything.

"Master!" Mash shouted at the wreckage as her shield blocked all the debris that came raining down upon the three of them.

The worry that had engulfed the Demi-Servant's heart was put to rest when she could feel that Hakuno was still alive through their bond as Master and Servant.

Moments later, a pristine looking yet stone faced Hakuno stepped out of the Manor, quickly followed by a pleased looking Caster and a bemused Zelretch.

With the coast clear, both girls ran over to the men and demanded to know what happened.

"The dimensional anomaly did exactly what I thought it would. It let us relive an echo of the final moments that happened in the room. Then we had to deal with a…pest problem." Zelretch explained as he brushed some stray soot off of his button up suit.

"So you blew up the entire manor in response to a pest issue?!" Olga Marie shouted, looking a mix between furious, worried and annoyed all at the same time.

All the while, Mash had gone to Hakuno and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for coming back Senpai." She whispered as the Master slowly wrapped his arms around her to return the hug.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm back. I had to deal with some hard truths and I'll need some time to process it all, but I'm back." He responded, the heavy burden that he had placed on himself slowly lifting with Mash's help.

_Basement_

_Matou Manor_

"_Caster…burn it all to ash."_

_A/N: That's a wrap! This chapter came out later because I was brushing up on Fate/Extra knowledge I did not wish to forget, playing F/GO, E3 and a whole lot of other things got in the way too. _

_This chapter took a turn for the serious to show the stark fundamental difference between Hakuno Kishinami and Ritsuka Fujimaru. That of experience._

_Hakuno is a veteran of several Grail Conflicts. The Near and Far side of the Moon (Fate/Extra, Fate/Extra CCC), the Umbral Star Incident (Fate/Extella) and the Charlemange Incident (Fate/Extella Link)_

_He won each and every one of them, even against foes that were superior to his own Servants in every way. In each and every game his foes always had the advantage be it with Servants, Knowledge, Code Cast, etc. etc._

_For once, Hakuno is mostly prepared…then BB._

_BB is going to be a driving force for his motivations, alongside Sakura Matou. _

_Fate/Extra CCC is an extremely complex story that I am trying to piece together since it's not fully translated into English. How I see it though and it is truth, is that in the 'True Ending', the AI Sakura and Hakuno gained the equivalent of Homunculi Bodies on Earth so they could spend the rest of their days together._

_HOWEVER, the Holy Grail War on the Near Side of the Moon came to an inconclusive end. So it 'reset itself', using a copy of the final copy of Hakuno Kishinami in its databanks to use when the Near Side Grail War began again. A copy that had been hacked by BB to be recognized as 'not a spirit'. Her whole reason for being was to save Hakuno and this is no exception!_

_As the entire game happened due to 'Hakuno Kishinami recognizing Sakura Matou' and ended with 'Hakuno Kishinami loves Sakura Matou', it only makes sense that when the new copy was made, those feelings stayed as well, which is why he is just as in love with her as he is his Servants, two of whom he has had sex with multiple times! (Fate/Extella implied Bond Events)_

_For those curious, Hakuno is normally a forgiving person, I completely understand that. The trauma Sakura underwent from Fate/Zero to Fate/Stay Night however…there is no forgiveness left for someone that would do something like that to her. If he did not do what he did, Caster would have done it himself, or even Zelretch._

_Also, I wonder what changes Zelretch made to Hakuno when nobody was looking…_

_I also changed up quite a bit about how Fuyuki is going, but I hope you enjoy how Zelretch being there has already changed things up drastically!_

_Please, leave comments, concerns and suggestions in reviews. I do not accept flames._

_This chapter has not been Beta Read yet._


	4. Chapter 4: Mystic Codes Troubled Souls

Extella/Grand Order

Chapter 4: Mystic Codes and Troubled Souls

_Fuyuki City Residential District_

_One Hour Later_

It had been a rather quiet walk across the abandoned residential district as the five humanoids and one Fou continued to follow the anomalies that Zelretch had sensed across the place. It was a trip that could have been made much shorter if it was not for the occasional battle against the undead near the areas where the district connected to the former bridge and Archer taking half-hearted potshots at them each time the group entered an open street or intersection. It seemed their destruction of the Matou Manor had pleased the Servant of the Bow somewhat for them to not be actively harassed like earlier.

So far they had seen the last moments of the masters of Lancer, Caster, Assassin and Rider. In a surprising twist, Zelretch had also revealed that he had seen another one involving Gilgamesh as a Rogue Servant who did not survive the fire unlike the other Servants. It had been due to an incident in the Fourth Grail War in which the Grail had been corrupted and its contents poured onto him in the fallout of it being destroyed. Supposedly it had made the King of Heroes just human enough that he could burn and die just like all other mortals.

For that, Hakuno was secretly grateful. He knew full well how absurdly powerful Gilgamesh was as in the Moon Cell, he constantly and frequently showed off his collection of original Noble Phantasms, his flying ship and the full power of his mighty blade Ea. It was because of those casual displays of near almighty power that he did not want to know what it felt like to be on the receiving end of having three universes dropped on top of him like some of the poor bastards in the Sakura Labyrinth. Fighting him as an enemy with their force practically crippled as it was would have been suicide.

With having just finished viewing the last moments of Caster's Master, one Enforcer Bazett McRemitz of the Clocktower, they were slowly beginning to see a pattern forming between all the memories they had seen.

Tapping on a portion of the mystic code on her wrist, Olga Marie called up the Chaldea Command Center.

The tired and nearly bloodshot eyes of Dr. Roman greeted them, reminding everyone of the slippery slope of lost time they were on between the chaos here and what awaited them back at the remains of Chaldea.

"I'm giving a status update Romani." Olga Marie said in what was probably the calmest tone of voice Hakuno had heard out of her mouth since first meeting her.

"Yes Director, audio logs and visual logs are a go." Dr. Roman informed while stifling a large yawn from the sleep deprivation and adrenaline loss he was going through.

With a slight wince at the Doctor's visage, Olga Marie pressed onwards. "We discovered from the anomalies that we have all seen so far, each Master had vanished right as they decided to enter what we will be calling the final phase of the Fifth Grail War. They had all decided for the most part to either try to kill the other Masters in earnest, or take potshots at the Servants while holding back. The only ones we have yet to confirm is the anomalies of Archer, Berserker and Saber's Masters."

Dr. Roman gave a weary nod. "I can't help but wonder if this was truly coincidence or just really good timing." He said aloud, voicing his thoughts to them.

Olga Marie shook her head. "It cannot be a coincidence. Whoever did this picked that time for a reason. Whether it was due to all the Heroic Spirits being at their peak strength and ready to kill, or because it was mutually agreed amongst all of them that they were going to end the war within the next night or two we won't know but we do know it was deliberate." She reasoned out.

For his part, Dr. Roman just nodded in agreement. "On our end, we've stabilized SHEVA and CHALDEAS. The most urgent treatments have been dealt with and we're slowly trickling in the non-critical patients into the med bay. We haven't received any response yet from the team we sent outside to re-establish communications and it has me worried, but there isn't much else we can do."

The Director gave a small smile of appreciation at the update. "Good job Romani." She praised, before it slipped right off her face for another stony expression. "Though now that I have had ample time to gather myself and think, we have been neglecting something. Where is she?"

Dr. Roman owlishly blinked at Olga Marie's question. "'She', Director?" he asked, clearly lost at who she meant if only due to sleep deprivation.

Olga Marie pinched her brow and swallowed what would have been a snappish response only due to the situation at hand. "You know exactly which 'she' I am referring to. The one that should have been the first to respond when things went belly flop up."

The lightbulb had gone off as Dr. Roman's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh. We…uh…have been having some issues there. Whoever our saboteur is, they magically sealed off her door with some wards and even soundproofed it. With how focused she gets when working on inventions, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't even know what happened. Thankfully our anti-magi division was mostly spared in the explosions so they're working to get the wards off so she can come out."

As they continued speaking, Hakuno leaned towards Mash and whispered, "Who are they talking about?"

Mash was quick to explain. "We had a Heroic Spirit contracted to Chaldea who helped us in the construction efforts. She is…eccentric and a non-combatant for the most part. She also tends to have a deep focus when working on projects. I've only seen her once or twice myself and never long enough to get a name. I do know that she is a Caster class though."

Hakuno accepted the information with a nod. It would have been ideal to have another Servant at the time of the attack but the traitor had been very thorough in making sure that this mystery Servant didn't intervene. That spoke volumes of her intelligence or skill at magecraft that might have made the entire bombing a non-issue had she been there when it went off.

Turning their focus back to the Director, she finished her small briefing with Dr. Roman and then turned to face them. "We're running out of time now. Wizard Marshal, are we close enough to the residences of Archer, Saber and Berserker that we won't have to make any more costly detours?" she asked.

Zelretch, who had been standing off to the side with their Caster, gave a 'so-so' gesture with his hand. "If we start at the Master of Archer's residence, it will be a straight shot to the Master of Saber. The Master of Berserker's home is deep in the forest but I can do that one on my own."

Hakuno paled at the thought of going alone into the forest where a primal Berserker laid in wait. "Will you be able to ward him off?" he asked seriously.

Zelretch grinned and raised his hand, a bit of his dimensional magic seeping to his fingertips. "I wasn't just looking at the anomalies for their memories alone. It also gave me a bit of a pick me up access to the Kaleidoscope, so I have enough in the tank to at least get away." He assured everyone.

Olga Marie gave a hesitant nod to his boasting. "Right then. Let's get this over with. I don't like the thought of splitting up even one person but the more we know and all that…"

"Right then. The master of Archer is in most dimensions my future apprentice. I know her residence well. Follow me. Should be a useful goodie in there too that will help." Zelretch breezily commented before taking point, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world despite their lives being on the line.

As the group walked after him, they felt a slow chill entering their bodies, as if his words were an omen of sorts. Whether for good or ill, however, they did not know.

_Tohsaka Estate_

_Fifteen Minutes Later_

In comparison to the Matou Manor, the Tohsaka Estate was much more humble in appearance, despite giving off a noble elegance to it. It was also the most untouched building they had seen so far, with the only real sign of damage being a destroyed lawn and cracked glass of the windows.

"This is the Estate of Rin Tohsaka, Master of Archer." Zelretch explained before looking up and taking one step back.

Right as he did an arrow pierced the ground that he had been standing on. It seemed like whatever favor that they had garnered with Archer was now gone as they stood at the doorstep of what had once been the Servant's base.

The next one that came was a crimson arrow that soared towards them like a missile. Mash quickly raised her shield up to block, only to gasp in surprise as the arrow seemingly gained sentience while defying the laws of gravity to twist around her and head straight for Hakuno himself.

For his part, the Last Master looked surprised as he remembered this arrow well. He also knew what it did and he threw himself back to avoid it as the same arrow attempted to lodge itself in his throat. The weapon was not deterred in the slightest and simply looped around to instead hit his skull, only for Hakuno to roll to the side before it got stuck in the dead grass and dissipated.

"Shit…" he rasped as Mash quickly ran over to him.

"Master, I'm so sorry! I tried to put my shield out but it just wouldn't connect!" The Demi-Servant apologized, bowing deeply for her failure.

Caster clicked his tongue in frustration and quickly waved his hand, blue protective runes covering the entire front lawn as everyone looked up and the three 'normal' people in the group widened their eyes in horror.

The reason being was that the sky had seemingly lit up with dozens upon dozens of those heat-seeking arrows that now plunged down towards them.

Caster's barrier held against the onslaught, but from the sweat that began dripping from his brow after a few seconds of sustained resistance it was obvious he wouldn't be able to hold out for very long. "Get in. NOW!" he barked at the group, who had mostly scrambled to follow the order save Zelretch who just calmly strode right in before Caster quickly followed.

Whether it was due to luck or the Servant's unwillingness to fire on its former base, Hakuno and company managed to breathe slightly easier for the moment. Though the sudden and rather vicious attack left a very obvious question hanging.

"Why didn't Archer do any of that before? The Bridge was the closest we've gotten but even that paled to the barrage we just weathered." Olga Marie said aloud, voicing those same thoughts. Fou, who had been in her arms, was shivering for seeing his furry little life flashing before his eyes.

"I'd imagine it's due to Saber having to give Archer her energy to sustain his existence after she corrupted him, alongside Berserker. Since Saber was injured, she put most of that energy into healing, so Archer was using whatever he had sparingly to avoid drawing out a longer healing time. We just pissed him off big time though, so all bets are off now." Caster reasoned.

"Great…even more trouble." Hakuno muttered with a sigh at the end.

"Master, do you know what was with that arrow?" Mash asked, as she had seen the recognition flashing across Hakuno's face when it came at him.

"Umm…somewhat." Hakuno said before seeing Olga Marie doing an about face and marching up to him. He could see the displeasure quickly growing and knew he would have to come up with an excuse quick to avoid her wrath without giving away that he was from another dimension.

"What is it and how do you know it? Do you know that Archer Servant and have been holding out on us this entire time?!" Olga Marie accused, nerves frayed from the umpteenth attempt on her life that day and poking Hakuno's chest with a finger, painfully so, to emphasize her point.

Hakuno's response was to carefully pull the Director away from him and looked her straight in the eye, excuse ready as he noticed Zelretch looking around for something.

"It was something Zelretch had told me had seen in one of those parallel dimensions. An Archer who can imperfectly trace Noble Phantasms and use them as arrows. If I'm recalling right, he used an arrow version of _Hrunting_ to try and kill me. If Caster's theory is right, the only reason I'm not dead or badly hurt right now is due to the fact that it can be rather costly to keep up for too long when he's on borrowed prana and he had to get rid of it."

It was a rather lengthy explanation, but it was a good enough one to have Olga Marie already come to false conclusions since she had been giving the two of them looks earlier when she thought he hadn't noticed. No doubt she was trying to see how deep their relationship was beyond hired help.

It was just easier to let those thoughts fester than letting the truth get out…at least for now. Hakuno resolved to make sure to tell all of them the truth someday.

With that done and stopping the spectacle that had all but the Wizard Marshal looking at them, they started to explore the house in earnest. It was, so far, the only intact place left in Fuyuki that didn't look like it had been raided. Much to their surprise, they did find some bagged junk food and bottled water in the pantry and fridge that had not been burned or rotted through. Though they only grabbed the water after Caster quickly checked to make sure it wasn't tainted regardless.

It seemed like just a regular house at first glance, but this was the house of a Magus, which obviously meant that there was more than what meets the eye. The case in point was when Zelretch let out a chuckle of amusement as he removed what had to have been magical traps that kept a door leading to the basement level locked.

Downstairs, they found a small treasure trove of items and goods that could be used. Mostly magical textbooks, some knickknacks but Olga Marie gave a slight gasp in surprise when she saw some rainbow colored star like crystals laying on a desk with some observation notes written next to them.

"This…this is Saint Quartz!" she exclaimed with surprise.

"Saint Quartz?" Hakuno parroted in confusion.

Olga Marie blushed slightly at losing her composure before clearing her throat. "It's basically in as simplest as I can get in terms…crystallized concepts in a star shaped form. It has the ability to be not only a power source to some of our more…eccentric machines back in Chaldea, but it is also used to summon our Servants from the FATE system."

"I heard about that from Dr. Roman. What is that system?" Hakuno asked, looking at Fou who was sniffing the stone in curiosity while Mash was grabbing anything valuable that they could use. Caster was staying next to the door in case Archer came after them personally and Zelretch was working on a box that looked to be under both lock and key AND magical barriers to prevent it from being opened.

"The FATE system is what Chaldea uses to bypass the normal Grail Ritual system. If we had used the latter all that would do is lead to a civil Grail War that nobody needs. So basically we're summoning from the Throne of Heroes itself without a medium like the Holy Grail. As we do not use any rituals, however, what comes out might not be what the person is expecting." Olga Marie lectured.

Hakuno took it all in, but frowned at the conclusion that he reached. "Isn't that essentially like drawing something in a gacha game?" he asked, referring to a Japanese style type of gaming where one paid to draw random things that they might want but not get, as the results are totally random.

Almost as if he spoke a forbidden word at the mention of '_gacha_', the entire building shook for several moments before going still again, causing everyone to look at each other in confusion.

Hesitating for a moment to see if there would be any more tremors, Olga Marie continued her explanation.

"I guess you can see it in that way, but regardless Saint Quartz are what we substitute for catalysts, also known as the materials used to call upon certain Servants. They are also not at their full strength when we summon them so as to not take a toll and kill a new master by accident by draining all their prana once the contract is made as the Grail isn't providing any, so it's a double edged sword of sorts."

"I see…easier summoning, but in exchange a weaker Servant for a time and with no guarantee that you'll be getting the Servant that you need to help you." Hakuno nodded to himself. "How many did you find?"

Olga Marie pocketed the last one that she found and patted it to make sure it was secure. "Thirty, which is enough for at least ten tries on summoning Servants." She informed him just as a loud _'CLICK!'_ was heard from Zelretch's corner.

"Ah, it's far too easy to break this when she's only this age…BUT I did find something that I think you'll find useful, Olga Marie!" The Wizard Marshal exclaimed.

From the inside of the chest, he pulled out two items. The first was…a stick. A stick that Hakuno could immediately tell belonged to a magical girl anime from the frilly wings on the side, the star that was locked onto the headrest and that it was somewhat intricately designed. Why a magus of all things would have one was beyond him.

The second item taken was a dagger whose blade was made from various crystals. Just staring at it made the Master's head hurt as it felt like he was looking straight at Zelretch's magic itself and it was not something he could process with his currently human brain.

Further compounding the issue was that his Regalia was STILL performing the anti-virus cleanse on him meant that it couldn't keep the strain associated with seeing the second true magic away from his mind. BB's hacking had gone much deeper than he thought.

As the others began to gather around to him, Zelretch presented the stick first. "This is something I used to…ah…_motivate_ what would have been a future student of mine and was a future student in many parallel dimensions. It's called, quite simply, the Kaleidostick version Ruby. It is a mystic code that helps in the manipulation of od and gives the user contracted to it the ability to perform feats of magic that can become equal to a Servant when in battle. It also has access to the Mana Plane, so it's basically infinite energy compressed into what seems like a non-lethal weapon." He explained.

It was useful…extremely useful considering their situation. Too useful in fact and Hakuno knew something like that came with a cost. Which was why he was glad he wasn't being suckered into using it when Zelretch presented it to Olga Marie, who gently grasped the Mystic Code like it was the second coming of the Akashic Root.

"Olga Marie, I know you're tired of being relegated to the sidelines while the others are fighting. So I have temporarily undone Ruby's former contract for the moment. Just place a bit of your prana into the star shaped crest on the top and it will be bound to you." Despite the kind and grandfatherly tone of voice Zelretch was using, the all-too-wide smile on his face spoke volumes of him wanting to see the end result of her using it.

Olga Marie, however, was too star-struck to notice the look that made Mash wary and cling to Hakuno's shirt with apprehension clear on her face while the master himself just placed a hand on his face in despair for the Director not noticing she was being played. Even Fou made to clear the room quickly when he saw that smile. It made for a rather anti-climactic show when instead of something absurd happening, the only thing that did happen when Olga Marie placed her Prana into the Kaleidostick was that the hilt turned from red to gold in color.

"Good…_good…*ahem*_ what I mean is that when you need to use it, just lift it up and say '_Kaleidostick Ruby, Activate!_' while transferring prana into it. The Mystic Code has some sentience to it so it will handle the rest while getting you up to speed with what you can and can't do."

While letting Olga Marie squeal and fangirl over her new weapon, Zelretch flipped the crystal dagger and presented it hilt-first to Hakuno. "This is something I pre-prepared in case of emergencies. It is an inferior copy of my own personal weapon and Mystic Code. Despite being called the '_Jeweled Sword of Zelretch'_ by yours truly, it is actually more of a staff. Just like me, it can access the energies of the Kaleidoscope and compress it into a weapon. Just don't try to attack anyone with the blade itself or it will shatter and become worthless."

Carefully making sure not to look at the blade itself, Hakuno gingerly accepted the weapon and placed it in his bag for now along with the other supplies. "Since it is an inferior version, is there side effects to using it?" he asked.

Zelretch nodded. "Indeed. I would have just given you the original but that's only usable by me or those carrying my blood and I doubt you'd wish to become a thrall or Apostle Ancestor anytime soon. The backlash from this can overheat your circuits, both spiritron and regular and it can also rip and tear your muscles from overuse." He warned.

That was a rather reasonable drawback to using magic beyond what mortals normally could attain so Hakuno gave a nod of understanding while Mash looked up at Zelretch.

"Umm…Mr. Wizard Marshal, sir…is there anything for me?" she shyly asked.

To Mash, Zelretch gave a more understanding smile than the mischievous one from earlier. "Sorry my dear, but no. I make mystic codes as a bit of a side hobby but many of them are too powerful to be used and even as a demi-servant, it would not be of much use to you."

That deflated the pink haired Servants hopes quickly. She only perked up when Hakuno ruffled her hair and offered her a smile that she was quick to return.

"Tell you what, when we get out of this I'll see about making you one too." Zelretch offered, which Mash furiously nodded her head in a positive reaction.

With the distribution of items out of the way, now came the true reason that they were here; the dimensional anomaly that laid in the center of the room.

Once more with a yank and pull of his arm, Zelretch absorbed the anomaly and everyone that was fully downstairs watched the final moments of the Master known as Rin Tohsaka.

_'Once more…someone I know but not the same person.'_ Hakuno idly thought to himself, remembering how in the Sakura Labyrinth there had been a similar incident where he actually DID fight another dimension's Rin and her Servant Archer, who bore an eerie resemblance to the one he himself recruited.

_In the memory_

_Rin Tohsaka, last of her line, sat on a stool in her workshop. Her long black hair had been tied into two pigtails held up by black ribbons, while her attire consisted of a red sweater, an undershirt, a rather short black skirt that showed off her long legs, black stockings and finally brown loafers. _

Caster, who had come down to see what was happening, let out a soft whistle of appreciation towards Rin's, in his opinion, exotic attractiveness.

_She had on the same kind of eyepiece that a jeweler would use to look at the details of gems when looking to see its inherent gross and net value. In front of her was one of many Saint Quartz that had been placed next to her. To her side, a worn looking notebook and pen were laid down, full of notes she had taken on what she had dubbed the miracle stone._

_ For a single moment, she stopped, looked up and went back to her observations. A second later, her Servant appeared next to her. Dressed up in red and black, with tanned skin and white hair, he did not give off the same aura as a Servant. Instead, he looked and more like a Magus Enforcer to those watching._

For Hakuno, a pang of pity and regret filled his heart at knowing what would be this Servant's fate, both in the memory and soon enough in battle with them. All the more agonizing was that he looked exactly the same as the Archer he knew back on the Moon Cell, albeit with slight key differences.

_"Yes, Rin?" The Servant called out._

_ "Archer, these gems that you found the other day…I'm close to figuring them out. They give off such a weird vibe at first, but once I push past it I see that it's pure, raw prana. It isn't supposed to be possible to crystallize such a thing, but even then just holding it and focusing your own prana into it, this gem instills within me…I guess it could be similar to hope? Like I can do anything if I put my mind to it, sort of like the idiot." She explained._

"She's good. She picked up on something in just a few days that it took my father's research team years to figure out." Olga Marie complimented, giving a positive light to her opinion of Rin. "Such a shame she was taken like all the other Masters. If we can reverse everything, I'll see about maybe hiring her onto Chaldea."

_Archer looked at the gems with a bit of a sigh. "So gems that feel like Emiya Shirou when you put your prana into it. I must be cursed." He complained._

_ Rin rolled her eyes at her Servant's drama and took the eyepiece off before stretching, indicating that she had been in the basement researching for quite a long while. _

_ "Regardless of your bitching, we're still going through with the plan tomorrow. We already have our alliance with Emiya and Saber and with Rider being a general pain in our ass, we have to get into this Grail War seriously. Berserker and his pint sized pipsqueak of a Master held us back for too long." She declared as she walked across the room to stretch her legs somewhat. _

_ As she stepped on what seemed to be an old summoning circle, the same one she no doubt used to summon Archer, something…shifted. It was just for a moment, but it was long enough for a careful observer to catch on to. _

_ Archer sensed it straight away and looked at Rin with horror clear on his face. "Rin, step back!" he shouted as he rushed towards her._

_"H-huh?" That was the only thing Rin managed to utter when the circle came to life underneath her._

_ "H-hey, what's happening?!" She cried out, unsure of why her inactive and should have been inoperable Servant Summoning ritual circle came back to life._

_ The moment Archer tried to touch the circle, a repulsing wave of energy slammed into the Servant in Red, forcing him to take a step back._

_ As another second ticked by, what sounded like a chorus of voices crying out a mantra in unison could be faintly heard by everyone in the room. _

"I don't recognize the language, even with everything that Doctor Romani and the others taught me. It is very obvious that whatever is being said, this dialect is quite old." Mash observed.

_"Archer!" Rin screamed, trying to use her command seal by the telltale glow of her hand, but for some reason it was ineffective. She also tried to get out but the same barrier that kept her Servant away trapped her within. Her efforts became redoubled when she found bits and pieces of her body starting to vanish and become see-through. _

_ "Rin!" Archer cried out as he quickly summoned what seemed to be an odd choice of weapon. Despite his class a small, ornate dagger appeared in his hand. He hesitated a moment, as if debating whether using this weapon would do anything at all…but with everything to lose right in front of him, he struck._

_ It was that moment of hesitation that cost the Servant. Despite lightning quick reflexes, a bright glow emanated from the circle, temporarily blinding him right before the dagger could touch the barrier that had sprung up to prevent him from reaching his Master._

_ When it died down, both the circle and Rin Tohsaka were gone._

For Hakuno, it was a rather surreal sight to see in the next few moments, Archer crying out in what felt to be real pain before he vanished, no doubt going to the '_Emiya Shirou'_ mentioned earlier. Though unlike the Matou Mansion, it seemed that the Tohsaka Estate was spared from the flames. The question of why went unanswered.

Looking at his companions, Olga Marie had gone from a normal white skin color to an almost chalk white in paleness, no doubt horrified that a Master's command seal was somehow completely ineffective when it was supposed to break the laws of both time and space.

Mash looked sad more than anything, no doubt sympathizing with Archer over being unable to do anything when it mattered most as the same situation happened to her just a scant time ago.

Zelretch's face seemed to be curious, but the stony frown that crossed his lips said volumes about how he took his once and future apprentice being spirited away so easily.

As for Hakuno himself…all he could wonder is just how far this rabbit hole would take him in trying to get answers to questions that seemed to spawn even more questions than answers when investigated and solved.

"Guys, my ward is starting to fail and Archer is still trying to pepper us with arrows. We're done here, let's go." Caster called out, breaking the group from their musings.

Olga Marie flinched at the reminder of their possible death that was awaiting them, but she clutched her new Mystic Code weapon tightly. The fact that she could now fight back, even if it was not the right time to be using it, comforted her. They had one shot at this and if need be she'll use it against Berserker if there was no other choice, but she planned on saving every ounce of her strength for confronting Saber.

Mash took up a defensive position in front of everyone, ready to be the bulwark that protected all of them as they slowly came outside, only to be greeted with a score of arrows that crashed heavily into Mash's shield.

"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" A deep, mature and familiar voice practically howled out.

Faster than any bullet, a blue streak of line aimed right at Hakuno's face came deadly close to putting a new hole in him if Mash had not gotten in front of it and blocked it with her shield at the very last moment. Yet the sheer force the arrow made her stumble and nearly fall on top of Hakuno if he had not caught her by the mid-riff and helped her up.

A feral growl came closer and closer until Archer finally appeared in front of them. Unlike in the memory, his red coat was gone, leaving just black armor on while his hair that was spiked back was now matted down and looked messier than before.

The most unnatural change, however, was the black vein like lines running across the left side of his face from near his eyes to no doubt all across his body.

A black bow was in his hands and pulled taut against the string was, of all things, a spiral shaped sword. One that immediately became smaller, sleeker…an arrow pointed right at Hakuno.

"You don't have the right to enter that house. To step even one foot in there." He continued.

"Such sentimental values for once who has been corrupted as you have. Your Independent Action isn't just for show." Zelretch noted.

"Ghh…." Archer winced a bit, as if the words had physically hurt him. Hakuno, Olga Marie and Mash all glanced at each other and came to the same observation. Despite being corrupted, Archer is holding out against letting it take him completely as much as possible.

It made a disturbing amount of sense. From how he hadn't tried actively hunting them from the very start. The fact that he let them get away easily…if he had been as corrupted as Lancer, he would've kept trying to kill them no matter what, a loyal guard dog of sorts.

The whole thing was as sad as it was commendable that Archer was trying to hold on to the one thing left that seemed to matter to him.

"I can hear her ordering me to kill you. I've given all of you plenty of chances to either die somewhere else or leave. Now there's no mercy left." Archer concluded before suddenly firing the arrow.

From the absurd amount of energy it was releasing, they all knew if it connected, they would die. Mash's shield and defensive skill would not be able to protect them from something like that. Which was why Caster quickly stepped in, tracing a rune into the air.

"_Eiwhaz_!" he shouted and pointed at the sword turned arrow, which began to vanish millimeters before connecting to Mash's shield.

"Caster…" Archer muttered with a sneer on his lips.

"Yo, Archer! Seems like no matter what we keep running into each other. Let's finish an actual fight for once, shall we?" Caster taunted before looking at Hakuno.

"Master, let me have this please."

Archer's eyes narrowed. "So that's why you're still so powerful even now…"

Hakuno nodded as Zelretch pulled Olga Marie and the nearby Fou to the side where collateral damage would be at a minimum for them.

"Caster, Mash, to battle!" The Master ordered.

"YES, MASTER!" They both shouted before engaging Archer, who immediately leapt back, letting his bow disappear before summoning a familiar set of Chinese Falchion blades. One black, one white with a Yin-Yang symbol on the area where the crossguard would be normally located.

"At least you're not an idiot like Emiya Shirou. For once, a proper Master and a proper fight." Archer muttered to himself as he engaged them.

_(Fate/Grand Order OST: Fatal Battle)_

Just like with Lancer, Mash and Caster attempted to go on a more counter-offensive battle method with Mash using her shield to absorb any attacks Archer might use on them while Caster used his magic to attack from afar. Unlike Lancer, however, Archer would not fall for such an easy ploy.

As the Knight of the Bow, despite the use of the twin swords, he was more than capable of using his own technique to keep both Servants at bay. Slamming his swords into Mash's shield, he then summoned various cheap blades into the air beside him to shoot off at Caster with a mental command, preventing him from finishing his rune tracing while at the same time while taking pot-shots at Hakuno himself who had to hop and throw himself to the side to avoid getting perforated by blades.

The trio was already hard-pressed from the start with Hakuno grimacing as he could only rely on the abilities imprinted into his Mystic Code to help his allies and himself out. A quick message to the Regalia revealed that it was about eighty percent complete with the anti-virus cleanse with the remaining twenty needing quite a bit of time to finish. Time that they couldn't afford as both he and Caster fell behind Mash's shield when Archer attempted to do a wide ranged attack.

"Fuck this bastard has always been annoying…and holding back on me." Caster growled.

"Master, orders please!" Mash called out as her arms trembled underneath the force of swords being thrown at her shield.

With a growl, Hakuno decided at this point the best defense would be a good offense. Otherwise they'd be here all day and Saber would be back at full strength if Archer wasn't sapping away at the same energy source.

"Alright. There's only so many things he can do at once. We'll be going on the attack now. Mash, I know this can be a bit scary for you, but the Servant you're contracted with must have had some offensive techniques if they were able to make that sort of shield useful for more than blocking so use them. Caster, keep his focus thrown off with a constant barrage of your own. Mash will use her defensive skill to make sure you won't be harmed or at least mitigate any damage you might get. This Mystic Code also allows me to heal or throw up an emergency strength increase or speed increase but I have to use it sparingly. This is all you." He advised both Servants.

"What about yourself? This means that you'll be left open to attack." Mash noticed.

Hakuno gave his Demi-Servant a small smile. "If this goes well, he'll be so distracted that trying to be able to hit me will be the least of his worries."

Both nodded in understanding and Mash took the initiative by raising her shield up before slamming it down to the ground.

"_Wall of Snowflakes_!" She cried out, the defensive technique wrapping all three up in its protective layer before Caster rolled out and threw up a barrage of fireballs rather than trying to trap Archer in one place.

"Fools!" Archer cried out, already preparing to throw Mash's next attack off with his twin falchions before his eyes widened when a second barrage of fireballs were thrown straight at him. He was forced to quickly step back as Mash charged forward, her shield at her side as she roared out a battle cry of her own.

Using the shield as something of a bat, she swung the outer bottom portion of the cross-section at Archer, who could only parry with both blades rather than try to get an attack of his own in like before, due to a multitude of reasons such as the new distance the pink haired Demi-Servant was keeping him at, the rather unwieldy angle they were forced into because of this strike and Caster taking the opportunity to unleash one very big, very fast fireball of his own at them knowing Mash could take the hit.

Archer was forced to kick himself away from the two in a backflip before summoning several blades that were wildly thrown at them since he couldn't get a proper angle of where they were during his small retreat.

The moment his feet touched the ground and he looked up, a large slab of metal was thrust right at his face. Using the _Wall of Snowflakes_, Mash easily absorbed and dispersed the fireball summoned by Caster before continuing to press the attack.

There was no blocking this time around. Archer took the attack as Mash rammed him with all her strength before following up by literally jumping into the air with her shield in an uppercut motion, taking the corrupted Servant with her and leaving him wide open to Caster's fireball assault.

"Guh!" he sputtered as he was slammed back into the ground and rolled across the concrete for several feet before a nearby houses concrete fence broke the momentum as he both hit it and was sent through it.

He was a hardy Servant though and with their combination technique Mash was forced to leave Hakuno's side, leaving him wide open for an attack. One that Archer gladly took as he fired a newly remade _Hrunting_ arrow at the sole human of the trio.

The corrupted Servant was expecting one or both of his attackers to back off and try to protect their master, allowing him a chance to gain an advantage once more. His plan ran into a large snag when neither took the expected action he was hoping from them.

He was not definitely not expecting as he leaped to the rooftop of the house he was rammed into to have Caster already waiting for him and slamming him with the butt of his staff. Nor did he have any time to prepare for Mash leaping into a follow-through by just letting gravity do its work and letting her shield slam into him and force him down to the ground hard.

Hakuno was prepared to use himself as bait in this battle and with the Mystic Code given to him earlier, he already called up the ability he knew he would have to use.

"_Emergency Escape_!" He cried out, the Mystic Code uniform glowing and granting him a very temporary, but large boost of speed. He used it by taking a running jump and leaping a good story or two into the air and slamming down behind another empty house. As _Hrunting_ had no other ability but to follow him, it ended up dispersing when it rammed into the house while also providing Hakuno new cover to use.

Besieged on two sides while also having lost track of the Master and other hostages he could have used, Archer had enough and decided that discretion was the better part of valor at this point. Just as Mash and Caster were about to finish him off, he vanished into his spirit form and retreated.

_"My next arrow won't miss!"_ He voice called out, lingering in their ears as Zelretch, Olga Marie and Fou came out of their hiding spot inside of the Estate.

_(End Fatal Battle OST)_

Mash gave a small sigh of relief at the fast but serious battle came to an end for the moment. She and Caster both went back to the Estate entrance, where Hakuno joined them a few moments later.

The moment he made his appearance Olga Marie walked over to him, placed Fou down and slapped him across the face with all her strength, turning his head to the side as Mash gasped in surprise.

"Director!" She cried out in surprise, Fou agreeing with a cry of its own only for Olga Marie to hold up her hand in a gesture for silence.

"_WHAT. WAS. THAT." _She hissed, every word accentuated with a poke to Hakuno's chest.

The Master sighed, already knowing what she meant. "A gamble that we had to take. Mash and Caster aren't meant for such straight-forward battles. Mash doesn't have the proper combat experience yet and Caster is meant for ambushes and pre-rigged battlefields. We would've suffered worse if they hadn't left my side." He reasoned out.

The hologram of the Chaldea Command Center flickered to life and Dr. Romani looked at them with his face set in a frown. "Director…" he tried to cut her off, but Olga Marie was having none of it.

"SILENCE!" She shouted, shutting both of the other Chaldea staff up quickly.

"A gamble. A gamble you call it." She said with a hollow, fake laugh at the end before she backhanded Hakuno across his other cheek.

"It was SUICIDE what you did. If you weren't fast enough, if Archer had used a different arrow, or worse, avoided the two entirely, YOU. WOULD. HAVE. _DIED_!" She howled

"You are the _LAST MASTER LEFT_. If you die, then all of us die. Did you think about that with your reckless ploy?! You said you were glad I was still alive, that you cared. What you did showed neither. Once you die, it's not just us here. Everyone left at Chaldea would have died too. History. HUMANITY. You can't do something so stupid like that again. Do you understand?"

Hakuno grimaced, his cheeks red with an imprint of her hand clearly visible on it. "Director…"

Olga Marie cut him off, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him forward until they were forehead to forehand. "DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?" she repeated.

At this point Hakuno frowned and rather than forcefully, he gently pulled Olga Marie away from him. "I cannot comply with that order, Director Animusphere. Battle is not something that can so easily be determined by staying in the backlines. I am not a Master that will run and hide in every battle. I am someone who will stand by my Servant and support them through thick and thin."

The Director made to retort, but Hakuno silenced her with a single finger pressed against her lips, making her already red face turn a rather interesting shade of crimson from both the indignation and boldness he was showing.

"If either Mash or Caster had fallen in battle because I was not there to assist them with what I can see, through my own eyes rather than through theirs or whatever fancy technology we might have had back in Chaldea, then I would be dead regardless. I don't want to die either, but if it ends up happening, I'd rather it be by their side than by myself so far away from them." He explained.

Mash blushed at the care he was showing towards her and Caster grinned at his resolve towards such a situation. At the end of his little speech, Fou jumped into his arms and rubbed his furry little head against Hakuno's chin to make him feel better, earning a small smile from the Master.

"Kids right, little lady. We Servants need our masters closer than what many assume. The further away they are, the more danger they're actually put into because there's only so many places one can hide in a place like this. A wide area attack or Noble Phantasm renders hiding worthless. At least close by we can have a better chance of protecting him. Plus he has his command seals, but it's not worth wasting it each time he's attacked because he chose to be away from us. We know our duty. You need to let him do his as a proper warrior should." Cu told them.

He then turned to Hakuno. "Us Celtic heroes would love to have a guy like you side by side with us in the thick of battle. Keep impressing kid." He complimented.

With her rant defused, Olga Marie could only let her anger smolder at the situation and silently turned around, refusing to talk to either of them. Instead she turned to the hologram. "What is it Romani?"

Romani looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "We've…we lost contact with the team sent outside to establish communications. Another five to the casualty list." He reported.

Any righteous anger Olga Marie felt before that was immediately blown away by the revelation. "W-what…?" she whispered.

Romani heard that and sadly nodded. "They didn't meet their regularly scheduled check-in twice and wouldn't respond to any hails. I'm not sending out another team to check on them. We're low enough on manpower. It's just not feasible."

Marie had a small moment of silence for the lost crew who had survived only to lose their life a mere hour later and to think. "Add their names to the list. We'll build a memorial for everyone who was lost today and their names will be added to the list. If they were civilians, their families will be compensated. If they were magi…there's nothing we can really do." She decided.

The Doctor gave a nod of acceptance to her order and did as she asked, as he was already in the middle of writing down all the casualties Chaldea had suffered when he contacted them for the update.

That was when he noticed the Kaleidostick in Olga Marie's hands. "Oh? I didn't know you were into magical girls Director! You should have told me, I would've introduced you to many different shows, comics and even the website I go to, Magical Mari-chan!" he told her with good cheer.

The smile slowly slid off when all Olga Marie did was give him a deadpan look. "I have no idea what a magical girl is but I feel as if you're insulting me. THIS…" she stated, holding up the stick, "Is a Mystic Code granted to me by Zelretch himself. With it, for a temporary amount of time, I'll be supercharged enough to actively engage a Servant in combat as a ranged attack magus. I didn't use it against Archer because it would've been a waste of time and energy. This is only going to be used against Saber."

Dr. Romani looked at the stick with a bit of envy. "I see. How rare it is for such a thing to be given away so freely. Though having more firepower is never a bad thing, especially where you are right now."

"Indeed. Now if that's all, we have to get going. We're almost done examining the anomalies before we take on Saber." Olga Marie said with a bit of pride in her voice that their mis-matched team got so far, even with how angry she still was at Hakuno for the suicidal stunt he pulled earlier.

"Understood. Chaldea Command, Signing Off." Dr. Romani stated before cutting the connection.

With that out of the way, she looked at Zelretch. "How much further to the next one? I want to get this over with." She asked, true and utter exhaustion apparent in how she let her shoulders down and a haggard look came across her face while slumping forward in posture.

Zelretch pointed northwest of their current location. "About five minutes that way and I can take the one for Berserker on by myself."

"Then let's go. I've had enough of this."

The awkward silence would cling heavily to all of them for the entire walk there.

_Emiya Residence_

_Five Minutes Later_

Just as Zelretch had stated, the Emiya residence that held the master of Saber was not that far away. It was a relief for the rest of the group as it meant that they would not have to fight Archer again and with the Residential District clear of minor enemies, there wasn't any resistance getting there.

The Emiya Residence was more like another mansion, but just done in a typical Japanese architecture mix of modern and ancient times. Of the three actual residences they had visited so far, it was the only one that looked purely Japanese. Everyone noted that there was a minor ward tied to the house, but with the owner gone it didn't do anything to them so they ignored it.

Hakuno had to hold back his compulsion to follow proper Japanese etiquette of removing his shoes and taking a pair of house slippers before going inside as everyone else ambled forward with no hesitation. Fou had the courtesy at least of wiping his paws against an entryway carpet before entering though after jumping out of his arms to feel the place out himself.

The Master could only shake his head at the lack of respect the Magus community at large had for customs that were not their own.

Upon entering the main dining area, they were already face to face with the anomaly. Zelretch wasted no time in absorbing it as soon as everyone was in the room since they had even less time now than before with Archer liable to come back at any given point and more than willing to murder them upfront or snipe them from afar.

_In the memory_

_ The Emiya household was fairly modern, compared to the usual magus household. It was shown when the obvious Master came in wearing a track jacket with a long sleeved shirt, jeans and sneakers that were of common make. The magus community at large had inflated egos that told them they had to at least have upper class clothing to show off how much better they were than others. Strangely enough, despite his obvious Japanese look his hair was a spiky burnt orange and his eyes an odd golden brown color. His Servant, however, was somewhat unexpected to most._

Hakuno already had a slight inkling as to who the mysterious Saber of this Holy Grail War was. His hints had not been given in his time in Fuyuki, but rather back in the Moon Cell, where his Archer who went Nameless, Lancer Cu Chulainn and several others discussed previous fights that they had once participated in. Their memories all pointed to Fuyuki City and there had been only one Saber in both.

_Her appearance was that of a petite and somewhat dainty woman. Her golden blonde hair done up in a styled bun, her bangs parted on either side of her face with one ahoge sticking up to ruin the perfectionist vibe that it gave off. Her green eyes spoke of a deep wisdom that was found only in a life of blood and hardship even if her clothing was more modern fair consisting of a button up dress shirt with a blue ribbon tie, long blue skirt, black tights and brown boots. _

_The two were sitting in the traditional Japanese seiza style, folding their legs underneath their knees while sitting on a pillow so as to not strain their legs and were eating dinner that her Master had made. _

_ By the number of plates sitting next to the Saber Servant, she was a voracious eater. _

_ "Saber, you should save some for Tohsaka. She said she wanted to drop by tonight to discuss strategy_._ I have a bad feeling that this war is about to escalate beyond what that priest can contain and if we want to make sure to save everyone, you shouldn't gorge yourself." He chided, though more so he seemed worried that there wouldn't be any food left for others rather than being serious about how much she was eating._

Olga Marie gave a silent snort at hearing a Master wanting to save civilians. They were more often than not collateral damage in any Holy Grail War. One could no more save everyone than they could contain a tsunami. She already knew this Master was not a proper Magus.

_ "Hunger is the enemy, Shirou. You know that." Saber replied simply, nonplused at the look of despair he gave her. As they continued eating, eventually Saber finally set aside her chopsticks and looked towards her Master._

_ "Do you think we'll really be able to win? To save everyone we can?" she asked._

_ Her master looked at her straight in the eyes with a serious look on his face. "I swore to my father I'd take up his dream of being a Hero of Justice. I won't let it falter now. I don't like the thought of killing others just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."_

_ The way he spoke of this made it seem like he had a particular example in mind with that statement. _

_ "Your scuffle with Caster was a valuable lesson, albeit with a high price attached to it." Saber pushed forward. _

With that statement, everyone looked at the hooded Servant who just shrugged his shoulders. "Technically he was dead. He hadn't been a Master at the time, he saw me and Archer fighting and per obligation I killed him. Quick thrust of the butt of my staff through his heart. He survived and I tried to kill him again via frying him to a crisp when Saber interfered." He explained.

"How does someone survive having their heart ripped out?!" Olga Marie shouted with frustration, tugging at her hair with how nothing was going right in so many ways. It seemed as if people couldn't even have the dignity to die properly when they were killed.

"Archer's Master apparently saved him if their Alliance means anything." Caster guessed.

_Saber's Master had stayed silent the entire time, rubbing at his chest area where his heart would be. "Well ever since I summoned you he's left us and everyone else well enough alone." _

_ "Caster Class Servants don't do well in straight up fights Shirou. Chances are, he is preparing a fighting arena to lure us to that would be to his advantage." Saber explained._

_ "Well that's true and – hey, did you just eat another two bowls when I wasn't looking?!" Shirou shouted at her._

_ "I have no idea what you mean." Saber denied, despite there being clear evidence of two extra empty bowls of food stacked on top of the previous set seen earlier._

_ "Ugh…well, at least there's enough for one." Shirou muttered as he stood up, only to fall right back on his knees, a look of pure pain on his face as his left arm seemed to heat up out of nowhere, steam literally coming out of the pores of his skin._

_ "Shirou!" Saber shouted, her dress immediately becoming replaced with an elegant set of armor with a blue color scheme in the dress underneath. In her hands, a golden sword glowed, one that spoke of holy power and hope._

"That sword…the Heroic Spirit in me knows that sword. It is very familiar." Mash noted, causing Hakuno to look at her shield with a more critical glance now. If the Heroic Spirit knew the Holy Sword, it cut down the possibilities to a dozen and reduced it further still by the known users of weapons in that group.

_The magic circuits on the left side of his body were now visible, uncaring of the fact that Shirou's face was grimacing in pain before a look of calm acceptance came over him out of nowhere. So sudden was the change that Saber hesitated in reaching out to him._

_ "So, this is thine body of mine. Adequate for thy purpose. A mind so focused…so full of blades. Surely this body is made of swords." Shirou spoke, though his voice tremored and sounded lower…older than what he actually was._

_ "Who are you? What have you done with Shirou?!" Saber demanded, pointing her blade at her possessed Master._

_ "Just a blacksmith, who has been called to forge a blade." The possessed Shirou stated simply as a circle of fire erupted around him. _

_ "It seems as though our conversation has come to an end. A shame, for such a beautiful sword is something I would dearly love to explore myself."_

_ Before she could retort, the circle of fire turned into a pillar of flame, consuming the young man before being snuffed out as if it never existed in the first place, no trace of a fire even having been there was seen._

_ "Shirou!" Saber shouted in despair as she fell onto her knees, a haunted look on her face._

_ "Again…I failed again…Irisviel…Shirou…" The proud Knight Maiden intoned with her voice coming out as equally hollow as her eyes looked._

_ "If you feel like you failed…perhaps I can be of assistance?" A cultured voice spoke out of nowhere._

"That voice…I know that voice." Olga Marie stated right as the memory ended.

"Wait! That was Lev! Please, can't it go any further?!" She cried out, looking at Zelretch with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but no. Though if that was Lev Lainur, he has a lot of explaining to do." Zelretch stated with a cold look on his face.

"H-huh?" The heartbroken Director was confused at why the Wizard Marshal looked so angry.

"Think about it. If that was him, then this was BEFORE the fire started that turned this city into a necropolis. Saber had been tainted by something or someone and this is damning evidence as to who was the most likely culprit." Hakuno rationally pointed out.

Olga Marie shook her head in denial. "No…no that isn't true. That isn't Lev at all. He's the reason why Chaldea got to where it was now. All of our equipment, theories, even the base location…all of it was done by him. Why would he want to undo his work like this?" she argued.

"When you take out what is impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Zelretch spoke with certainty.

"No…NO. We are going to beat Saber and find out the real truth. I refuse to believe this theory unless he says it himself!" Olga Marie steadfastly kept to her own theory.

"We will find out soon enough regardless. It's time for us to split ways. Go west for about ten minutes. There's a temple there as a landmark. Right behind it, go north for another twenty minutes and you'll reach Saber's cave lair."

Having said his piece, Zelretch walked to a nearby sliding door and opened it before looking northeast, where deep in the forests, a nearby European style castle-like home stood peeking out from the forest of trees.

"I have to finish this…"

Looking behind him, he saw Mash gently escorting out the still in denial Olga Marie while Hakuno and Caster shot each other a look of understanding as to what was going to happen next.

"Nobody gets away with ruining the Kaleidoscope."

_A/N: Well…this story has blown away all my expectations._

_As of writing this, I'm just a few views shy of 7,000 with also just a few people shy of 200 follows and 170 favorites. In two months!_

_I'm glad you're enjoying this!_

_Onto brass tacks though. I can already hear the mass cries of voices in the air once they've read about a third of this chapter._

"_CLZ, NO!" They cry out._

_CLZ, YES. I am going there. _

_Several people complained about Olga Marie and Mash being glorified Cheerleaders for the last few chapters. That's because they kind of are. Even in the OVA Caster Cu basically stole the show because he was the most competent of the bunch and everyone else kind of stood there like a lump._

_I, on the other hand, am going to give these two a more proper and epic role in the upcoming fight. Mostly because the next three chapters will be nothing BUT fights. The small little scuffles will now give way to larger scale duels. So now Olga Marie has every reason to get in there rather than staying behind a small rune shield that would have broken from a single tap of Saber Alter's sword._

_Even if it is at the cost of whatever sanity she has remaining because the call of the Magical Girl is strong in her._

_Lastly and this is something I've been somewhat hesitant on. We all know that Fate started out as an eroge. In just about almost every spin-off, its roots show in one way or another. (Looking at you Prisma Illya M-rated lesbian kiss scenes from ten year old lolis.)_

_There will be lemons in this. HOWEVER, would you all prefer that on this website I keep to the central story and post the lemons on an alternate website, such as Archive of Our Own?_

_Or should I charge ahead and keep the entire story intact and you see Hakuno in bed with a bevy of beauties? Cause the first one is coming up soon!_

_Leave reviews explaining your choice. No flames please! Just constructive criticism!_

_Also I don't own the Fate Series. It belongs to Type-Moon, Nasu and all those other good people that help make it grow strong!_


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